I picked this grubby looking lamp up today, It's got Veritas Famos on the chimney which looks quite old. It'll take some work to get it looking nice, might struggle to find a shade for it, it's a smaller diameter tripod than an Aladdin. Anyone know anything about this lamp?
Hello Matt, it's a Veritas Superspeed, which was rated at 120cp., and it's a centre draft lamp, it takes the same style of mantle as an Aladdin but it's a larger mantle. The mantles do appear on Ebay sometimes and if I recall correctly this was the last 120cp mantle lamp which Veritas marketed. Jeff.
Thanks for the info Jeff, I'll keep an eye out for a mantle or two. Any idea what sort of date this would be?
I think your lamp is 1950s to 60s Matthew, you'll struggle finding a mantle for that, last one one Ebay made 56 pounds, i'll be able to source a shade for that, no problem...Paul
Hello Matt, I have searched my paperwork and the Superspeed burner was also available as a side draft burner, but your lamp is a centre draft lamp. It's a 1950's lamp. The chimney on the Superspeed was 13 inches tall, which was one inch taller than the Famos 120 chimney, the mantle for the Superspeed is smaller than the Famos 120 mantle and the fitting is different. This advert may be useful for reference here in the Open Forum, Jeff.
Hello Matt, the link below is for the Guild's Q&A page and if you type in Veritas Superspeed in the search box you will find more information, Jeff. http://www.lampguild.org/cgi-bin/htsearch
Mathew - it looks like you have the remains of an old mantle in there i.e the wire frame, so you could possibly restring an Aladdin mantle onto that frame. It may not be perfect but it could be a way round the availability issue and probably worth looking at. I have considered trying to string a cheap Tilley mantle or the like on an Aladdin before just to see what happens but I haven't got a spare frame from a spent mantle at the moment... It would save a fortune if it worked though!!
Thanks for all the info chaps, I though the lamp was going to be older looking at the way the chimney is made but I guess not. I may have to just use it as a wick lamp if the mantles are that price Paul , would be annoying if I found one and it turned up broken in the post like the aladdin mantles often do. I'll try and work out what the shade fitter size should be and let you know Paul, it would be great if you could dig one out. Gneiss, yes there is some of the old mantle support left so I may be able to rig something up, I'll have a go and let you know how I get on.
Will we see it at Newark? That lamp will look fantastic when polished up... It may be possible to get an adapter made up by someone who is handy in a the workshop that will allow it to take the Aladdin mantles direct.. Along the same lines as the cone cup adapters they sell. John Moncrieff do quite a selection of different sized shades so I'd be surprised if they didn't have one that was close enough even if you had to bend the wires a little...
I haven't put any thought into which lamps will be joining me this year. It might come along I'll see how much space I have when I'm packed. Not sure it will be a quick job polishing it as I tried tonight and it's really tarnished and grubby.
It's a funny thing polishing lamps, you seem to spend an eternity making little or no progress and then when you get the first hint of shine it all happens pretty quickly... I find polishing the fonts quite therapeutic to be honest, but I find cleaning the burners and galleries gets quite tedious after a while.
Well... I confess to having (another) wick lamp. It's unusual: heavy brass fount; and an unusual chimney (2 1/2" X 7 1/2"). A very nice little lamp:
I saw a very similar lamp last week at a boot fair. Unfortunately it was too badly damaged for me to consider it but I like those little lamps...
A nice little glass lamp I picked up recently... I don't think it's particularly old but it looks nice when lit
Light up at the camp ground.. Rainy night in Nevada 8/69 Petromax 1500/500CP, 2/74 & 4/74 Coleman 220H Kero conversions, 1935 Aladdin model B, 1920 vintage model 9 Aladdin not lit.. Just my camping allotment photoed tonight. Have other Aladdin hanging and table lamps at the homestead..
I never know quite how to refer to those Alddins, I usually call them "shelf lamps" but they used the same fonts in the hanging lamps... either way I haven't got any myself and I have no more room for table or shelf lamps in the house. I may have to put some shelves up in the garage just in case I accidentally pick one up
I just got lucky and picked up at box full of chimneys and wicks + some burnerparts and a C-burner to these lamps. How do I find out what fits my Aladdinlamp when I bought it used and have no instruction or partslist to compare it to? All objects is for a B-C and is lox-on Claus C
Hi... as far as I'm aware the little thimbles will fit any Aladdin burner from the model 12 onward. As David has discovered earlier in this thread the earlier versions were different. For the most common Aladdins the chimneys were two main types, the loxon type that you appear to have and the heel-less version. They are interchangeable if you swap the galleries too... They also do an adaptor that converts loxon galleries to take heel-less chimneys. There is a very good site here that should give you all the information you need including some exploded drawings showing the parts.. Aladdin Kerosene Lamps the section you want is "Models of Aladdin metal lamps" here Aladdin Kerosene Lamps PS. I don't recognise that burner..
Thanks a lot Gneiss The burner is a C-burner from Nashville USA, says the stamp. These lamps confuses me a bit, it dont take much, but now I will study it so I get more dressed 8) Claus C
Claus C Everything you wanted to know about Aladdin TeriAnn's Guide to Aladdin Mantle Lamps One of my favorite reference sites. A great many Pdf files contained within for different models.
Oh, what am I doing posting more of my wickies? Here's are a couple I've recently picked up, the bakelite one is the most recent, it's not quite the same colour in real life as the camera flash makes out. The other is my favourite, it's a number 8 which has had the centre draft tube removed and a disc soldered in the bottom of the tank to block it off and it now uses a super aladdin burner. I think this could be a factory modification but I'm not sure. I've had the lamp for a month or so but I was quite pleased to find an original shade to put on it more recently.
I love those earlier fonts... that's quite a nice find. Surely they must have had to change the thread too though as I thought the model 8 had the finer thread?
I can't comment on that, I don't know much about aladdins. I don't collect them, I just happen to have about 6 of them. Once upon a time, I didn't have a shade to put on the one I had, now I've got more shades than I have lamps.
That's an awful problem you have there, Matt - but I think I may just be able to help by taking a shade off your hands...
