Picked this up at a car boot sale this morning, just shows that you can still drop lucky, and yes it was a bargain. I have been after an E41 for some time but usually been priced out, so I’m chuffed to bits to find this. Yes it wants some work but looks pretty much complete with the exception of the glass. Marked 1941, I think get the paint off and see what she is like underneath..
@Gary Waller Nice find you jammy bugger ...... I’m looking forward to seeing your pictures of the fettle and of course the “money shot”. Enjoy Pete
Looks like it was "dipped" rather than painted - but I suspect this will have preserved it so I reckon you will end up with a great lantern. Top find !
I’m not sure what it was painted with, but 4 coats of nitromors so far and it’s not all off. I have however managed to make some new air screws for the hood as they had been replaced with later round one.
yes that stuff is not as good as it once was. Starchem Synstrip is the one now - but use it outdoors and with glasses gloves etc..
@podbros yes it is, the original burner is past it, the holes have elongated and almost burnt through.
Congratulations with this find, Gary; you must have been on the look-out for quite a while. I think finding anything of interest on your own merit - as opposed to be a buyer of a good advertised on Ebay - is so much more rewarding. And this is a nice story to connect with such a lamp. Good luck with rejuvenating her. Mike
We’ll this has taken longer than I anticipated…that white paint just wouldn’t shift……anyway it’s about done..
Nice one, Gary. In a short time you built up a nice lamp - and a personal bond as well! For those still looking for an E41, I bet there are barbie-pink and turqoise ones still around, just keep an eye open!
To me, the E41looks like a hybrid... somewhere between a typical British lantern and a Petromax. Very interesting!
@ColinG , the unique (for W&B anyway) appearance of the ventilator and top of the E41 can perhaps be explained by the contacts with Petromax before the war, for whom they made parts - perhaps to support the straight import of Petromax lamps at that time into Britain. And since W&B were not shy to copy the burner from Tilley, they just as easy could have done same for their first new lamp's appearance, or at least the upper part, hence the hidden inlets to the burner. Why it was soon dropped makes for speculation why this is so. I seem to remember the suggestion it was made up from stock initially meant for another client, that should at least explain why the E41 was short-lived. But I think econonomy has a lot to do with its demise. My E41 has a top of heavy brass, and to hide the inlets made for a less simple ventilator than on the soon to follow 300 model. In fact the several incarnations of the E41 in such a short time seem to be dictated by cutting production costs, hence the ommision of the pressure gauge, the later steel tops and cheapening of the pricker control knob. Funny, but I experience the E41 not as a typical W&B lamp, but rather as an oddball, perhaps because my mental image of such a lamp is the one like in my avatar, the venerable 300X, be it a Vapa or a Bia.
@BigStevie yeah I’m really happy with it, always nice to pick a bargain up, then bring it back to life.
