Hiya, I just snagged this Hipolito H-502 Automatic on E-Bay, I paid £100 for it , more than I can really afford for what is after all a Petromax clone but hey! when GAS(gear acquisition syndrome) strikes, its out of your hands. Joking aside My favourite lamp is my Butterfly, not the Chinese one but the Chrome on brass version made in Malesia I believe, and when I was doing my research for the Butterfly, the Hipolito name kept coming up so I gave into temptation and bought it. I will include a few pictures of it and would appreciate any comments(good or bad) There is a number stamped on the base 8777 so probably made in 1987 or even better 1977, or maybe its just a batch number, anyone know? anyway here's a bit of Lamp Porn for your pleasure These are just a few of the pictures that made me think it was worth a punt, I wont know truly until next week when it arrives BUT I am feeling positive about it Ray
Hipolito are a great lantern and can surpass even German made Petromax in terms of quality. Fair price paid in my opinion. Looks to have little use.
Looks great ! It is a bit more than a Petromax clone - it was made in the same factory as the post 1974 Petromaxes, using the same machinery that was moved there from Germany. Not so sure about the date tho. Too many sevens - if it was made in 1977 it would then be week 87 - which does not work on this planet. if it was made in the 1987 it would end in 78 Dating a lantern (give it a place on a time line) @Reinhard might have something to add.
@whiteturbo Congratulations on the good Hipolito 8777 is not possible please make an exact picture of the number.I assume the whole number is upside down and is called 4448.
Hi, I think you are right ! My eyesight isn't what it used to be, even using a magnifier so 4448. Is that 4th April 1984 or week 44 1984? Either way I can't wait to get my hands on her and fire it up. I was into sea fishing in 1984 but no way could I have afforded one of these then.
A nice score. The Hipolito is usually well-made. Quality is similar to the Petromax made in Germany for this class of lanterns. They are not exactly considered as clones or copycats. Hipolito in Portugal was already established well before they started manufacturing these Petromax-styled lanterns. The lantern is nearly 100% the style of the post-WWII, 1960s era German Petromax. Obvious difference would be the knurling/shape of the pump cap and the metal pump knob. Although the earlier, pre-WWII Petromax had metal pump knobs, those from most of post war manufacture was made of phenolic-bakelite type resin with threaded metal inserts for the pump stem. Perhaps the resin was being moulded around the insert rather than separately inserted. **Unlike the Petromax, we don't usually find the Hipolito being common in the Far Eastern and Southeastern parts of Asia. I mean, not that many(if any) were actually marketed as workhorse utensils in the past in those parts of Asia. That of course, excludes any of those being purchased by collectors in modern times by means of ebay or other online, mail orders.
In my opinion,the first two digits of the four-digit number only refer to the first week of a batch. The exact day cannot be determined with the Code of the 70s/80s. Such a batch can be very small,e.g. a pre-series,or very large, e.g. a military order. Unlike the scratched-in numbers of earlier decades ,you need a solid base to stamp in a number.This means that the numbers have been stamped in advance.You certainly usually knew howe large the order was and you prepared this number of tank bottoms and the numbers stamped.
The Petromax lanterns manufactured in Altena/West Germany had pump buttons made of metal as Standard up to and including 1953. My oldest Hipolitos also have metal pump buttons.I'm guessing they are from the 50's and 60's. At the latest when the New H series from Hipolito was manufactured with the tools from the Petromax factory from the mid-70s,they had pump bottons made of phenolic-bakelite resin. In the 80s,when Hipolito introduced the new high-quality pump cap ,the metal pump button experienced a revival. But it looks different than the old ones from Petromax and Hipolito.It is smooth on the top.It can also be found on the Petrolite made at Hipolito at the same time..
Some interesting historical details on the post WWII Petromax up to 1953 indeed, @Reinhard . At lot of Ehrich & Graetz(E&G) features were still present on the Petromax lanterns made in Altena, including the logo up to 1953. Perhaps those mid-70s Hipolitos were near-identical(except for certain markings, i.e., logo, nameplate details) to the later Petromax lanterns of the 60s and early 70s. Wouldn't be too surprised with the possibility that they might outsource for manufacturing some small parts that could be common for different brands. Had read somewhere that at least one or two lantern Brands of Swedish origin (couldn't recall if it was the Optimus, Radius or some others), had also been made in one of the Hipolito factories in Portugal. Not sure if any of the parts in the 1980s Hipolito had the similar features as those made for the Swedish brands.
Since the introduction of the new Rapid lever in 1964/65 until the end of its construction in Portugal,nothing important has changed on the Petromax. The lamp from @whiteturbo ,in this case a Hipolito H-502,represents the end point of this development for me.This pressure lamp was available under different brand names.They were all of the same quality. An exception are the Hipolito and Lanterne D-306/506 from 1975.From this I can see that Hipolito first wanted to go a different way. The son of Franz Heinze ,owner of Geniol,once wrote to me that there were difficulties with the start of production in 1974/75. Yes I've seen components for Optimus.For example pressure vessels for 250cp lamps in the 90's.
Valuable info indeed. The starting up of production is almost always pretty difficult, especially after a prolonged shutdown. I just had one about 3 weeks ago in my workplace (Process plant, heavy equipment environment) . All issues regarding business direction, securing of raw materials, poor market, logistics problems as well as technical difficulties in the plant & engineering side, shortage of operational labour, etc were involved. As expected, they all coincided together at the same time.
I have one of these I used to use in the 80s fishing. An amazing lamp allbeit a little temperamental. I have just got it out of the shed. My memory and instinct tell me I used straight petrol but looking on forums people keep talking about kerosine. Anyone know. Unless I am going gaga I am with petrol
All petromaxes and their derivatives run kero. Don't fall for what a company who shall not be named and other uninformed will tell you. Never run petrol/gasoline/spirits in a petromax! And the "B" (Benzine) Bundeswher variant is not an exception or excuse! That one is an odd one off by the Bundeswher trying to shortcut logistics and to say they stopped this run in short order is an understatement on how unsafe it was. (Tents catching on fire with the whole thing detonating into an inferno from what I heard.)
As far as I know Hipolito never made a gasoline lantern and certainly not the Petromax type which is your H502. That is strictly a kero model. ::Neil::
Francis - perhaps conflating in your memory with a Coleman you or a friend had ? - post a picture here ?
What everybody else says! unless you want to play russian roulette, in which case use a gun, its safer LOL
