I got this from a guy in Portugal, listed as ‘old lantern for parts’. When it arrived, chucked into a box with very little padding,m it turned out to be a complete HASAG Vacuum Oil Company Sunflower No. 51. The fount was all full of black stuff, took quite a bit of work (acetone, lye, citric, rust destroyer, nuts etc) to get that cleared and the pickup tube clogged with the stuff too. Had to use a blowtorch to get that clear. Made new Viton fuel cap seal and NRV pip. Had to straighten the vaporizer, which was slightly bent/warped and hanging up the pricker rod, with a dead blow hammer. Original control/pricker rod, needle, vaporizer, cage, cage rest, pump; everything present except spirit cup, used a Coleman set next to vaporizer; works fine. Ventilator, not sure whether original, but nut is legit. Burner legit, only remnants of original screen & so had to fashion one to fit ito it from below since burner cap was seized. Had to use an old Radius NRV spring to get enough seal on the NRV. Now the thing runs like a baller, strong 300 cp, and as quiet as a Primus or Radius. Anyhow it’s very cool and doesn’t look too bad either! Running on 80% kero/20% Aspen 4. Ulf.
A great find and a good job on the fettle. These lamps do run well. Does it have a brass Hasag plate and a date stamp on the base?
Hi James! yes, it does. Photo attached. Presumably March 1930 — I should think this would be a fairly late model as far as the Vacuum Oil Company goes (?). I’d love to learn more about the Vacuum Oil Company. I had the lantern running for 5 hours last evening and only gave it about ten pumps the whole time, and I’m not sure it needed that. VERY strong piece of equipment. Ulf.
Hello, everyone! I just had a little discussion with a fellow collector in the U.S. about a Hasag No. 51 Sunflower storm lantern. The lantern was definitely manufactured by Hasag! However, a quick check of my trademark archive showed me that this trademark was held by a different German company. That company was Henry B. Simms in Hamburg, an export firm. So it’s safe to assume that the Sunflower lanterns were ordered from Hasag AG on behalf of Henry B. Simms, complete with the exact embossing they appear with on the market. Back then, it was completely normal for companies like Hasag AG or Ehrich & Graetz AG to manufacture and emboss their pressure lamps or other lamps on behalf of customers! Chronologically, the Simms trademark fits perfectly with the Hasag or Primus lanterns. Best regards, Jörg
The Sunflower Vacuum Oil Company also bought in lamps from Radius. Here is a link to mine with some information about the company in the thread. The Radius lamps would also have been from around 1930. @Jörg Wekenmann These were advertising / promotional lamps, so I don't think they are related to the Henry B. Simms company.
Hi Nils, I don't think these Hasag Sunflower lanterns were sold or distributed solely as promotional gifts or the like. In my opinion, they simply turn up too often for that. What's also very interesting is that many of these lanterns were found in Portugal; I know for sure that one was purchased in Madeira. German exporters often bought pressure lamps or storm lanterns with their trademark or custom engraving and then sold them locally. In this context, I’d like to mention Franz Racek in India, who bought his RAX and EFAR lanterns from the companies Ehrich & Graetz and Hugo Schneider and had them engraved. They were intended solely for the Indian market. Of course, if you have convincing arguments that these lanterns actually served only as promotional items, I’d be happy to be persuaded otherwise. Best regards, Jörg On the left two Hasag 51 Sunflower bought in Portugal by a collector friend.
The fact that tank is stamped with Vacuum Oil Company and Sunflower (the brand name of their kerosene) plus a sunflower logo which does not look like the one above for Henry B. Simms indicates to me that they are definitely linked to the oil company. I fail to see a connection between the oil company and a trading company in Berlin, apart from them both using the name Sunflower. This is the first time I have seen a wick lamp with Vacuum Oil Company and Sunflower on them. I can see that they are marked with a number that I think is 124. I wonder who produced them? They look almost identical to the Hasag on the right.
Hi Nils, as I already wrote above these are two Hasag 51 Sunflower hurricane lanterns. The Hasag company produced them as well as pressure lamps! Kind regards Jörg Copyright of this photo by Melanie Loveland, USA
