Hola! I posted this on the Coleman collectors forum and thought some here might like to read it if they hadn't read it already: Hello all. I just got back from my trip to Cuzco, Peru. I stayed 9 days in the Cuzco/Urubamba area. What a great trip! I stayed with some friends that I lived with for a year 40 years ago. My has that place changed! I kept my eyes open for any lanterns but there wasn't much to see. Asking if someone had a "Petromax" got results. With Kero not for sale anymore due to the drug trade, all lanterns have been put away in the dark corners of peoples adobe houses. The ones that I did find by asking, were generally the "Anchor" brand made in China. They usually had peeling chrome and were in rough shape. This one came out of a hole in the wall grocery store in Yucay. This one had a box. I passed on this one due to lots of peeling chrome and the pump knob missing (typical for the Anchor brands I found). I found another kero lantern hanging in the doorway of a restaurant as a piece of art. Not for sale but I took a photo of it: I couldn't get a clear picture of the fount name but I think it said "Sun" something. Here is a crappy pic of the plaque with SF appliance marked on it: I finally went to a swap meet in Cuzco Peru on Saturday and poked around. I found one nice Anchor lantern for $10 and bought it. It seems like the "Anchor" brand was what most of the Andean folks used or still had in their possession. After buying that one, I walked around the corner 2 minutes later and found a "Made in Germany" original Petromax. I took pictures of it and had to pass. In retrospect, I probably would have bought that one even though it was a little dinged up and in need of some serious fettling. Loved the homemade hardware cloth globe! Had I bought it, trying to pack up two lanterns would have taken up too much space in my luggage, and trashing the nice Anchor didn't set well with me. So I went back to the hotel and dumped out the coffee and cream colored kero into the toilet. Lovely smell! I then went to the drugstore and purchased a 1/2 liter of 96% alcohol and rinsed out the fount a few times. Dumped that in the toilet as well. (I'm sure the maids loved me!)I left the lantern on the roof top with the pressure gauged cap removed to air out for the day. I packed it up in my checked luggage the next day and off to the airport. I made it to Panama and got called in by inspection to open my luggage. After passing through various security check points, I was led to the "basement" of the airport to a small room with my suitcase and a few security guys checking me out. OK, I'm feeling like I'm about to be arrested and cuffed and off to jail for importing a bomb. I was told to take out the lantern. I explained that it was empty and had no flammable liquids in it. All that was left was a metal lantern. I avoided using the "bomb" word. One of the female security personnel was asking all the questions and finally let me open the fount to show her that nothing was in the fount. I attempted to dump anything out of the fount and nothing came out. She agreed and didn't notice any residue inside. She let me keep it much to the surprise of the other security thugs in the room. I quickly packed it up and barely made it to my flight. Yahoo! It arrived safe in my luggage and onto my house here in Glendale CA. There wasn't a globe for it when I bought it, so, I'll have to find one. I have a feeling that, had I bought the German Petromax, the Checkpoint Charlie types would have grabbed it due to the oily residue all over the lantern. The "Anchor" may not be the most collectible lantern ever but, for me, it will be a nice memento of my trip to Peru and winning at the airport. So, if you find a nice lantern abroad and decide that you must have it, I suggest taking a picture of it and finding the same one on ebay and getting it that way! WAAAY less hassle. You might have success if you pull it apart and put the parts in different suitcases. That way, they won't know what it is. The residue filled fount might be the main sticking point. Rinse well with alcohol! It works! Chris
A good story. It reminds of the time a friend and me where in the U.S.A. Knowing full well that we'd be buying lamps & lanterns to add to our respective collections, we took the precaution of taking large suitcases and minimum clothing. Our new finds were disassembled, the burners, frames, handles etc. went into our cases and the tanks where washed out before being boxed up and shipped home (surface mail I think - keeps the cost down and we could wait) to the U.K. Henry.
First few trips I made to the US I came home with about 20 lamps in the cases each trip. Then they got nervous about carying gas bombs so we had to mail the tanks and only carry the rest as metal bits. Sahem really but we still ended up with a lot of interesting gems. ::Neil::
Forgive my ignorance but what is the link between keep and the drugs trade? Great story! Thanks for sharing and now you have a permanent reminder of your trip or should I say excursion. Regards Jeremy
I remember the time Doron Papo came to the Newark meet, bought an FL6 from someone and shipped it back home to Israel, dismantled in his suitcase. It got back OK...
I had two experiences like this: in 2012 I bought a couple of lanterns in Barcelona and inmediately took a cruise to the mediterranean sea. Muy suit case did not arrive to my room and I was aske to go to the security office to open my suit case; then, when I had to came back to Argentina I had no problems at all. The second time was this january: I bought an Adlake railway lantern (sorry, I didn't find any pressure one) on Pier 39 in San Francisco; it traveled on my carry-on luggage through USA, many airports, with no problems and I was stopped only at Buenos Aires airport departing to my city, just had to show that there were no fuel on it.
When they produce cocaine, the second step is to wash the leaves of coca with kero or other hydrocarbon fuel. So, in many countries that produce coca many common substances are restricted. I work for a winery and you can't imagine the burocracy around many compounds or products used in industries, because they can be used in the production of drugs, especially cocaine. In Argentina we can freely buy kerosene, but the main countries that produce coca are Perú, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia. Argentina has not a good climate, just few places on the very north.
What lamps are you buying in the USA? I am in the USA and the best lamps seem to come from your side of the pond.
To be honest, I can't remember makes and models but basically anything not found on this side of the pond. We went to quite a few antique malls and got some nice lamps and lanterns much cheaper than if we'd got them via eBay where we'd have had to bid against the rest of the world. Just remembered, one of the table lamps I got was a 1934 Coleman 132 with only one small blemish in the Coppertone finish and a 1936 132A also in very good condtion. Henry.
Interesting. So does anyone ever buy lamps at antique stores in the USA then swap them with people overseas? I piddle in antique shops all the time. To be quite honest I never even considered doing this, but it seems like a great way to pastime and get lamps for cheaper.
For sure! They would be very for certain. I wonder what became lost in translation there? It might be fun and something to watch out for. On this side, or on the other side, of the pond.
I suspect my stateside colloquialisms are not translating as I thought... verb (used without object), pid·dled, pid·dling. to spend time in a wasteful, trifling, or ineffective way; dawdle (often followed by around): He wasted the day piddling around. Informal. (especially of children and pets) to urinate.
For example, I found this today while piddling in a military shop. It is a Tilley BT25 flood lamp. Are items such as this "good trades"? The pics aren't so good as the shop was about to close and I didn't have time to open the front cover. The lamp is on a tripod. The metal is galvanized. The glass is in three pieces with tissue paper separating the panes to prevent damage.
No, you had it pretty much correct - the difference seems to be that both of those definitions are (very) informal in this country...
