First full restoration since the arthritis set in. It came out fairly well ass considered. This appears to be an early one with the E41 reflector top. It has no pressure tit. Won't light this one yet, little more tweaking to do. The one on the left below is an 300 with the "cooly" type top and a pressure tit, also 1943(?). I have my doubts... Steel tank. If you look just above the tank cap I think you can just see the pressure tit.
Thanks to all! I forgot to mention, The glass in the one I restored was a generic lantern glass and my son drilled the lighting hole for me. It came out pretty good!
Your son did well, George - drilling a hole in glass (especially such a large one) isn't something I'd even consider...
My guess would be that W&B used brass when it was available. The military specified steel, however, because it was more durable in harsh environments (like WWII) and probably cheaper, too...
I'd be wondering if those were really meant for the military or upper class civilians. What about the fount? Is it brass too?
@MYN Both lanterns have steel fonts. I think that perhaps the one with the pressure tit found its way back to the repair depot and that's why it has a pressure tit, the font got swapped. Either that or it went back into use with a swapped 1943 top! I am no expert on these even though I think they are one great lantern, but I doubt these where offered at the time to the civilian market. Maybe after the war when they were probably sold as surplus.
Coleman lanterns had steel tanks around this time too. Towards the end of the war you began to see brass tanks showing up again. The steel tanks are usually painted and even some of the brass tanks were painted! Nickel was just too precious for plating. In fact, about 1942, the nickel was removed from our 5 cent pieces and replaced with silver!!
From July 4th, 1944, these lanterns were produced in brown or cream for the civilian market. As you suggest, at the end of the war the grey-blue ones probably ended up in stores and then onto the civilian market as surplus...
Thanks for the clarification. Those are truly nice lanterns. I'd guess they need a lot of brass for the ammo cartridges during then.
True but also the individual use of the two main ingredients. Copper for the electrical wiring circuits of military vehicles and radio sets and zinc for zinc carbon batteries to power torches etc.
They'd all be pretty scarce in times of war. Especially if they had to be imported from elsewhere. I'm not sure if civilians would even bother to buy pressure lanterns during those difficult times. In my opinion, these would be seen as luxury items.
Well I'd have thought the exact opposite. Handy down the Anderson shelter, under the stairs etc. Handy in the outside lavatory. Handy if the electricity supply goes off due to bombing of the power station and other electricity supply infrastructure. All sorts of reasons you might need a portable source of light...
I would thought wick lamps would be less costly and easier to maintain in those circumstances. But I'm not sure if the fuel or lamp oil would have been a problem too. Not as bright though.
A lot of rural areas did not have electricity or city gas and the home front, particularly farming was important so pressure lamps were always available. I don't know if Vapalux were sold as civilian lamps but Tilley certainly were. We see quite a few table lamps from 1940-1945 and I doubt the military ordered many of that "domestic" type lamp. ::Neil::
