Well, it shows that rare lanterns are still out there waiting to be found. Picked up at a car boot sale today for the princely sum of £2.00 . Sold by Aladdin UK from 1937 to 1939, this one is marked '2 9' on the base indicating February 1939. No time to work on it at the moment as I'm re-fitting our bathroom, but I've washed the dust and spiders off. The glass is original. I'll post further pics in due course. Interestingly, a plate marked 'foreign' has been soldered onto the tank to cover the engraved "Made in Germany". I can imagine the scene in a hardware store somewhere in England on the 3rd September 1939, the day we declared war on Germany. The proprietor is sat pondering how he is going to shift the lanterns sitting in his storeroom that are all marked "Made in Germany", when is eyes fall on his soldering iron... . Or possibly it was done by the importer. This one is definitely a keeper. Terry
Very nice find! I wish such lanterns were to find around here as well. Interestingly these Aladdins have a completely different fuel shutoff compared to the German versions of Petromax from that same time. Happy fettling, and I hope we will see some pictures in action soon!
Wish lamps like that turned up at my local car boot. Nothing but an x246b up for grabs today and I bet it was more than £2. Are you sure you want to keep it, wouldn't you much rather see me with it?
The funny thing is; after handing over my £2.00, the seller rummaged in a box saying "I've got a service kit that goes with that". After a while he handed me a new Coleman Pump Repair Kit!
Excellent find, especially in such good nick! I have the same model without the Aladdin badge made in 1938. It also has the plate soldered on the fount, without the "Foreign". But it is missing the inner hood, burner, vapouriser, spirit cup and rapid tube. I would appreciate some close up pics of these parts when you can spare the time. Thanks, Phil
Maybe you can use a set of today's Petromax 250HK spares. They should all fit, except the meths cup, which was most likely not fitted to the original, since it has the rapid preheater. However, it gets harder to come by these parts nowadays because they are no more produced, contrary to the 150HK / 350HK and 500HK spares.
Thanks for the advice, Martin. The only Petromax 821/827 part I cannot find new online so far is the inner hood.
Dismantled the lamp this morning. The hood, cage and collar are all plated (nickle?), which under the crud is in very good condition. However there is not a trace of plating on the tank; not underneath, under the collar or in any nooks and crannies, nor any sign of paint. Do we know if these were sold with polished brass tanks? Terry
