Any collectors of non pressure lamps here? I have a little collection myself, mostly "works in progress". Aside from the Eccles, I have an unbranded lamp that I believe to have originated in India, two Aladdin English version Type 14 and two Aladdin Type 12... I also have a few cheap Chinese lamps that we light and hang in the trees in the garden at weekends. Not exactly a huge collection, but I'm not sure my wife would appreciate any more!
Great collection Jeff.... Your Bakelite Aladdin is exactly the same shape font as the English Model 14 but then I guess you would expect that given it was made between 1933 and 1953 so it was the "current"shape. As I say my Aladdins are all still "work in progress" but I'm getting there. Having seen how good your Bakelite Aladdin looks I'm very tempted just to paint one of my Model 14s and see how it looks. If I did what paint would you recommend?
Here's a recent restoration of mine... my first real attempt at anything more than a bit of polish... The lamp arrived in a very sorry state, with the two halves of the base having come apart and the base plate fallen out spilling all the sand used to give it weight. So a fair bit of work to bring it back to a usable lamp but I'm pleased with the result. The lamp is simply marked "India" and nothing else so I know very little about it...
My two old Rayo's burn well and brightly. I also have several all glass flat wick lamps, but once i used the Rayo there was no comparison. My old rail road lantern/hurricane lantern works well, even in an actual hurricane.....proven here in August. piper
I don't think my wickie is as new as some of those pictured here. I've a few still hidden away but this one is a whale oil lamp. Anyone hazard a guess at a date? (I've no idea 1880?)
The Rayos I've seen all had center draft burners and employed a flame spreader very similar to Matador... both were very bright for non mantle lamps. Mine uses a single flat wick and produces much less light but is absolutely fantastic for "architectural lighting", in much the same way I use the Eccles in a window.. The Back o Beyond - Do you have a wick for your lamp and have you ever had it lit?
As mentioned in a previous post I have several Miners Lamps and recently aquired a Chalwyn Far East which I will try out on Friday night at our bonfire night party, as well as a Tilley and a Vapalux or 2
Oh yes! I like wick lamps, and especially those with a mantle. I have a handful of Aladdins, but that's hardly a collection. But I do collect carbide lamps, and then I'm not talking about miner lamps or bicycle lamps... It shall be real lamps, meaning table lamps. Here's a shot a late summer night with cigars, beer, wine and good company, softly illuminated by a carbide lamp in the centre of the table. The flare in the background is from the barbeque...
You will have to ask some of the other collectors about paint, my choice of colour is not very popular, but I like it, so thats what matters! Jeff.
Christer - In my wife's opinion more than two is a collection! I have to admit when I started this thread carbide lamps never even crossed my mind so thanks. Jeff - I was thinking more of the type than the colour, but for what it's worth I don't mind what I have seen of yours. To be honest I just think it's great to see these old lamps looking good again. Out of curiosity how many lamps do you have altogether?
Wick lamps is where it all started for me. Fortunately I didn't get too many before I started on pressure lamps. This is my favourite wick lamp, although not strictly a lamp more of a heater but I love it all the same.
Hi Mathew - I wasn't sure I liked that red lamp until I saw it lit up. It does look quite spectacular in that alcove... In my opinion there's nothing better than a wick lamp for feature lighting in an alcove or a window. PS. I like your pigeon lamp and the two nursery lamps PPS. What burner does that red lamp have?
Hi Gneiss, Yes the red lamp is quite an impressive piece. In that picture I hadn't got a chimney fitted so it would probably burn better with one which I found eventually. It's a big old 30 line burner in there so it gives out plenty light and heat.
One of our cheap Chinese "Hurricane Lanterns"... It's become a weekend tradition that we light them and hang them from the trees in the garden whatever the weather. The rest of the week they hang from a beam in the garage alongside my Tilley...
Carbide lamps are very nice. Totally silent, and with a decent, steady light. I also have a bunch of Tito-Landi´s and similar lamps. They are pretty cool too with their discrete, low-voiced hissing, but yet good light output. The table lamps are common, but the lanterns are not so frequent, so here's an image of one of those. I use an old Aladdin upright gaslight mantle on it: Sorry about the "white stuff", Neil. It's an old photo. Unfortunately we haven't got any snow here yet.
Thanks Jeff! Frankly it's the snow that does it. Any lamp or lantern look good when photographed in the snow. It's something with the distinctly deep contrast between the bright white and the pitch dark in the outer shadows.
Yesterday my latest Aladdin "Type 12" font arrived but: It's a different shape to the font on my other Type 12, and I'm a little confused.. My original Type 12 font is quite angular and more similar to the Type 14 and later fonts. My new one is much more curved and more akin to earlier designs so I'm wondering if that's precisely what it is - an earlier design. The trouble is the type numbers were only ever stamped on the winders so in isolation it's much harder to identify a font. The other difference is that the air intake vents in the base are far simpler than on my original type 12... I'll photograph them side by side later... but for the moment I have a bit of a mystery.
Hi Mackburner, hopefully a picture will confirm. The one on the right is what I was expecting, the one on the left is what arrived... The plating is in much better condition than inferred by the photo, it's just very grubby. I'm actually very pleased with it, it just isn't the shape I was expecting..
The model 12 burner often turns up on that style of tank. Aladdin would have used up the tanks which they had in stock and it's not uncommon to find later burners on earlier tanks. I have a model 12 burner on a model 7 tank, the burners wore out or broke and folk replaced them with what was available. The thread was the same until the model 14 burner (Super Aladdin) which was a side draft burner, all of the earlier Aladdin burners were central draft. Jeff.
Followup - the font can be found on the Aladdin website, which has a wealth of information including old price lists It seems the same font was used for the later model 9 all the way through to the model 11 and as mentioned by Jeff and Mackburner there were some "hybrids" during transition periods. Aladdin model 9 lamps I guess it's going to be hard to date it with any certainty. I didn't buy it as a complete model 12, the font was just sold separately as a "type 12". Jeff - there are some fascinating true hybrids on the Aladdin site...
Just to clarify, "the Aladin site" mentioned in my earlier post is a collectors site and not the official Aladdin site and well worth a visit...
These photos show a Kirk (Church) duplex lamp, which I obtained recently. It's an unusual lamp and it was made by Hinks. I intend to restore it.Jeff.
