I bought this before the very first lockdown and asked a friend to store it untill I could organise transportation. Nearly 2 years later I had to travel to the same general area and arranged to pick it up. After fitting new seals and a gentle wipe down it was ready to light. It's in amazing condition as the following photos show... Also, has anyone noticed a spiral pattern on the bail... or on any other lantern with a spring steel bail? It's difficult to capture but it appears to be evidence of the manufacturing process. Any ideas? Also, when I first lit it, it appeared to have a problem as after 5 minutes it would begin to flare up. I'd fitted a Peerless 24 500cp but wondered it might not be the right shape and wasn't close enough to the generator so I tried a ball type but it did the same thing. As luck would have it I remembered reading a post on the Coleman Collectors Club about the exact same problem. I initially ran it without the hood or globe and according to the post, this can cause this problem so having fitted another Peerless 24 I gave it another go and away she went... with no flare ups! Good tip this! This Superb cost me £40, 2 years ago and frankly I got a bargain considering the condition!
Top lantern there Colin, you must be tickled pink to get such a good example and with the original glass too. These Veritas Superbs are excellent lanterns lighting very easily and giving good service. Congratulations on a fantastic find. Enjoy Pete @ColinG
Very nice Colin, love the styling of these and it’s in great condition. Good to have the decals in such good nick. I’m still working on the reproduction water slide for the Veritas. Have had a proof and costs through but it takes about a week between emails with the printer, so it’s slow going!
Very nice lamp @ColinG . You either dropped lucky or you finally got that old time machine you found in the barn working. Either way, what an original beauty!
Thanks everyone. @Scott D I'll be very interested when you have a viable waterslide solution. This example doesn't need one but a few of my others do.
Gooday Colin, Nice Veritas Superb. What is a waterslide transfer please? Transfer I get and decal I would get but a waterslide in Victoria is something kids slide down with water. Alas, a slide in Victoria is known as other things around Australia itself, such as a slippery dip and I think other things too. I don't get the exact meaning but presumably I take it you apply water and it slides off, like our old car rego stickers here. Is that it? Thanks
Probably just what you understand by 'transfer' - such as you would get in an Airfix model kit (and maybe still do). They are transfers that come attached to a piece of thin card. You cut them out, put them in water to soak for a couple of minutes and then slide them off onto the model. RAF roundels, squadron letters and markings etc. Here's the stuff to create your own:- MDP Supplies: Waterslide Transfers
Exactly what David said. I used to make Airfix models as a boy and they always came with transfers. Somewhere between my childhood and now the name has changed/morphed into waterslide but it's the same thing, isn't it? Also, I'm assuming lantern logos like the one on the Superb were transfers... weren't they, or did they use a different process? I can't imagine a regular Airfix transfer lasting as long as lantern decals. Does anyone know how/what the originals actually were?
I was just thinking on what Colin said about transfers of yesteryears. I’m thinking that Colin’s right. Is the waterslide of today and transfers be what our American friends call “decals”?
When I was a kid, the word “transfer” was used for a “waterslide”. North Americans usually call all “transfers”, “water slides”, and stick-on labels “decals”. But decal is also a legitimate word for a transfer according to the Aussie Macquarie Dictionary. Cheers Tony
I'd stake my life on them being transfers / waterslide transfers / decals - call 'em what you will. I'm pretty sure that lamps, lanterns and stoves made by what I call the 'Birmingham Bunch' - Veritas, Thermidor, Samuel Heath and Sons, RM etc. all ended up with decals as opposed to tank markings, stampings, pressings, etc. because they formed, effectively, a cartel and one of the manufacturers made all of the tanks for the rest of them. These were then easily branded and sold as such by adding transfers for each individual manufacturer. I presume each manufacturer made certain other parts to contribute to the whole, thus saving money...