Hi all, This Magnaphare N°250 Swiss Made donut was manufactured by Standard Licht AG Zurich Schweiz. Switzerland. Lampen & Metallwaren AG würzgrabenstrasse 5. 8048 Zurich. Capital CHF: 500,000. Registration in the commercial register: 26.07.1915 Removal from the commercial register: 22.01.1998 Commercial register number: 20.3.923.551.7 The building at No. 5 at present, is it the old renovated factory or a new building built after having razed the old one, I don't know. https://www.google.fr/maps/uv?pb=!1...BCrzgrabenstrasse+Zurich.+schweiz/@47.3925989 You should consult the archives of the town hall of Zurich for information. I suppose that this Swiss company after having been absorbed by Graetz around 1941/1942 the Standard Licht essentially continued to supply the steel articles which was at the base its specialty, enamelled steel donuts, projectors, lampshades. After 1941/1942 I assume that the brass lanterns with the very typical design of the Standard licht were certainly no longer produced. Petromax "clone" lamps have taken over with a Standard Swiss made badge. Time will tell the story of Standard Licht which was in two countries Germany and Switzerland. The patents of the 50s concerning it for lanterns are similar to the product from Graetz (Petromax). The papers on the Standard Licht are not numerous. This Magnaphare N°250 donut of 200 cp petrol was produced by La standard Licht in Switzerland, surely with an agreement for the Magnaphare badge for a customer or a distributor or an agent. Magnaphare is certainly not a manufacturer. This Magnaphare is a small donut of 200 cp the flame nozzle and as small as a 100 cp nozzle I put a picture to compare with an Optimus N°200 lantern. This Magnaphare works with gasoline, there is an E engraved on the jet. The pump rod screws onto the non-return valve for fire safety. You can see here Leo's post with his Standard N°400 which has the same stop valve and fuel inlet elements here:Standard 400a I seriously think that this Magnaphare is quite old because it has the same technical elements as my Standard N°10 stove in the 1930 catalog a picture to compare the tank strainers of each device I did the first dismantling and cleaning for the pictures. Then I'll do the ignition. Thank you for sharing Best regards, Titoo.
@Titoo Thank you for posting the lamp, and for the detailed information on the Magnaphare. Best regards Tony
Hello Titoo, what you write above: "I suppose that this Swiss company after having been absorbed by Graetz around 1941/1942 the Standard Licht" this is not the truth. Both companies the Schweizer Lampen und Metallwaren AG, Zürich and the Standard Licht GmbH had been independent until the companies ceased in 1975 (Standard Licht) and 1998 (Schweizer Lampen und Metallwaren AG. I have a an excerpt from the commercial register concerning the Standard Licht in my archive which proves this. Fact is that the Ehrich & Graetz AG, the Standard Licht GmbH and the Schweizer Lampen und Metallwaren AG (both companies have had the same general manager in the 1930ties, Mr Ulmann) made in 1936 (23.12.) a contract where they decided which Petromax lanterns the Standard Licht Gmbh could produce from then on and which Standard lamps the Ehrich & Graetz company could produce. After the war the Standard Licht GmbH started first with the production of pressure lamps before Ehrich & Graetz could built up their new company at Altena. The above-named companies also have had a contract in 1937 with the Revolto AG in Kopenhagen. These four companies made a patent pool contract which allowed them to use patents from the Revolto AG and the other way around. I have a scan from all these contracts in my archive. Kind regards Jörg
Hello Jörg, Thank you for your valuable details. I do not have any documents on the two Standard Licht companies. I have three Standard Licht lamps the 3045M the 5032 baby H Koppel and the H Koppel headlight both H Koppel no markings. I took my information from different sites of known collectors, not all of them are sure of their information, they make assumptions without the documents. For example they think that 100% of Standard Licht lamps were made in Germany..... Are there any pictures of these two companies? Could you please if you have the possibility to prepare a file using your documents in the section of the forum: articles-history-manufacturers for the members subscriber of the forum. This could provide valuable insight for the good of all on the situation of these two major lamp manufacturers. Only papers can set up the story for our passion for antique pressure lighting. Best Regards, Titoo.
Hello Titoo, I know these Homepages in Germany which claim that Ehrich & Graetz took over the Standard GmbH in 1942. But they have no proof for this. I have my information from two different archives in Berlin, the Schatz / Aschwanden archive of Ruedi Fischer, Swiss and the commercial register in Germany. The Standard GmbH produced pressure lamps in their own factory in Frankfurt but if they needed any support the Schweizer Lampen und Metallwaren AG supported them. The papers I do have in my archive are in German language only but there still exist the English version of all these contracts in the BBWA archive in Berlin. Kind regards Jörg
Jörg, Many thank for your insightful intervention. It is important to receive the information well. You have cleared my mind on these two Standard Licht companies. I think for other enthusiasts of the history of lamp manufacturers your comments are important. The paper archive of all languages and welcome to reconstruct the history of manufacturers. I know the serious commitment of Ruedi Fisher his site and a gold mine for the Swiss connection of Mr Schatz and his collaborator Mr Aschwanden. I wish you all the best. Best regards, Titoo.
Hi Titoo, Ican give you some information concerning the adresses of Standard Licht in Frankfurt. 1) Until 1945 they where situated at Mainzer Landstr. 372 2) After the war in 1950 the address was Gutleutstr. 40 3) Around 1970 the address was Dehnhardt 22 To 1 = completely new area no old buildings visible with google maps (old buildings maybe destroyed during WWII) To 2 = old factory building restored To 3 = residential area, no factory buildings visible, maybe it was a postal adress only Mr. Uhlmann and his family have had a long history with lanterns. The predessor company of the Schweizer Lampen und Metallwaren AG was Uhlmann & Co. Ltd., Zürich The scan is from 1912 Kind regards Jörg
Jörg, Thank you again for this concrete informations with the proof of the papers. This is a valuable base of new informations for me. Now it's clear in my mind. Do you have any informations for Magnaphare ? I think Neil will consider this informations. Best Regards, Titoo.
@Titoo Very rare donut lamp and very nice presentation I had waited with my comment because I had discovered inconsistencies in the text. But I knew that @Jörg Wekenmann would see that and correct it. And so it was Regards Reinhard
Hi Titoo, sorry, but I have no information about the brand 'Magnaphare'. I have many information concerning the Standard company but almost nothing about the Schweizer Lampen und Metallwaren AG. One patent I could find in my archive. Almost two years ago I have had the plan to visit the city archive of Zürich where we can find all the information about this company but then Corona came and I had to postpone my plan. The best source to consider my information is Martin Kiontke and naturally Neil. Kind regards Jörg
Now I thank you all for your interest. The presentation of this Magnaphare donut made it possible to move forward in the history of these two companies. Jörg, I encourage you for your archive visit project in Zurich, Switzerland. I will take the greatest care of this donut, it is in great shape. Be a little patient for the time of a meticulous restoration so that I can present its light to you. I wish you all the best. Best regards, Titoo.
Now I'll also have to say a word! First of all, it's a real beauty that you have there, @Titoo ! Jörg and myself did lots of researh about the "Standard" companies, but due to the common name it is diffucult to find anything of interest, as you get flooded with belongless information. We have downloaded any Standard patent we could find from Espacenet, trying different search terms including the persons related to the companies. As a fact the companies had various relations which are however difficult to track. So far I've not much more information beyond what @Jörg Wekenmann has already written, and that bit would not give any enlightenment to this thread. BTW: I'm going to post a few pictures of a newly restored Petromax 850 in a few minutes here in the gallery.
Hi Martin, Many thanks Martin, Jörg, you both do a fantastic job. I wonder if there are photographs of the production workshops or important people of the Sandard Licht. I appreciate the standard Licht devices with this particular look. Security on devices was groundbreaking for its time. Best regards, Titoo.
