A friend of mine, Harald Kippenes, got a crazy idea a few years ago and in 2010 he built an exact copy of Roald Amundsen´s legendary cabin called Framheim. Framheim was Amundsen´s base camp cabin in the Bay of Whales, Antarctica where he and his crew prepared for the 1911 South Pole Expedition. Kippenes studied an enormous amount of pictures, diaries, order-books and other sources from the expedition to get all the details correct in the new Framheim. We are talking everything from hand blown window-glasses to exact copies of the cutlery and bed drapes. From the original expedition he has got original sledges and even a stuffed sledgedog supposed to be the famous dog Obersten ("The Colonel"). Kippenes is still missing information on the lamp that was hanging in the main room of the cabin, and we turn to you guys for help. Since the cabin is gone for almost one hundred years, this photo is the only lead to help us in the search for the correct lamp. Can you please help us identifying this lamp on this picture? There is also a picture of the inventory of Kippenes´cabin as a comparison. If anybody has information on how to get such a lamp or has the actual lamp for sale, please pm me. Best regards Hans
Hi Hans, My first thought was that it was a Primus 992 but I am not sure as the globe looks too large relative to the size of the tank. Thanks to Neil for the picture. James.
James, it's way too early for that kind of Primus. The lamp used in this cabin is a hollow wire lamp. You can actually see what must be the tubing up along the ceiling. It is most likely a Lux DH of some version. Like this DHF (F for 'Förnicklad') from about the same angle as in the old photo you show us: You can see the full post of that one . It gives a hint of how it looked. I also think you should browse through the entire Lux gallery. It won't be easy to get hold of a tank and a lamp for your friend, but if you got questions, just keep them coming.
Yes, Gneiss, I had the same idea. Perhaps they thought that they needed something better to get hold of and stabilizing the lamp when operating it and the cleaning needle. There are plenty of pictures on the web when searching for Framheim, and there are hardly any doubt when looking through those that this actually is a Lux DH. Just browse through the images here, to mention some. The last picture ( seen here ) is the best example.
Yes you can zoom right in on those Christa, the hollow wire is really clear.... I'm even more sure now that the "handle" is attached to the lamp by what looks like a loop. Maybe they had to take the lamp apart to feed it onto a pipe/tube somehow. It might explain why the bottom section was removed if indeed it was.
Oh, yes, the bottom part has absolutely been removed. The hollow wire attaches to a fitting up at the very top of the lamp as it should. Then there's an internal feed pipe which goes inside one of the legs of the lyre hanger from the top and attaches to the bottom of the burner inside the lower sphere that has been halfed. It's probably to get acces to that point the half has been removed. Since it's clearly a Lux lamp, a little googling soon enough brought out many texts about the expedition, and one English translation is to be seen here. "...The Lux lamp was the first thing he rigged up, giving us a light that contributed much to the feeling of comfort and well-being through the long winter... We used only the Lux lamp in our hut, besides the stove in the kitchen, and with this we kept our room so warm that those of us in the upper berths were constantly complaining of the warmth" And this little episode of lighting the lamp: "I heard a click -- had no idea what it was -- and then the same movement back again to the lamp. Of course, he now fell over the stool he had upset before. Meanwhile there was a hissing sound, and a stifling smell of paraffin. I was thinking of making my escape through the door, when suddenly, just as I suppose it happened on the first day of Creation, in an instant there was light. But it was a light that defies description; it dazzled and hurt the eyes, it was so bright. It was perfectly white and extremely agreeable -- when one was not looking at it. Evidently it was one of the 200-candle Lux lamps."
To everybody who have contributed in the search: I am very thankful for all your help! And I am very, very impressed with what you found out! It looks like Kippenes has to use candles for some more years until he gets the correct lamp. Again, thank you very much! -Hans
What a great discription of lighting a pressure lamp you have found there Christa It's interesting too just how significant the lamp must have been to them and their comfort in that cabin.
Hans, You don't have a picture with the lamp off ? The light blinds us to identify the lantern. The flat bottum indicates to me a lantern in a frame. The globe can be special made since tehre is also a special shade on top. Assumingly to distribute the heat.
Wim, I have already identified it, and also explained why it looks like it has a "flat bottom", as you say. But I can repeat it again since you obviously only read the first post in this topic: It's a Lux DH which has had the decorative bottom sphere's lower half removed, hence the "flat bottom" look. I suggest that you read all posts in this topic! For a better picture just follow the links I provided. I could take out the pictures from the web pages in question, but they are property of those sites so it's better to just link to them. Especially since they are very large, and that's good if you want to see details better. The last one is clear enough, and can be seen here. Don't forget to enlargen the photo to full in case your browser adapts it to fit your screen.
