Quirk’s Victory Lantern (“Goulburn Special”)

This is a recently-acquired Quirk’s “Goulburn Special” lantern. It is a gasoline-fueled lantern.

These lanterns and their Goulburn Special table lamp relatives are enigmatic. They do not appear as illustrations in advertisements; they appear to all use the same tank which, given some variation, is very very close to a Nettlefold AP2 tank (see photo and comparison below); and they all have the Quirk Patent variation of an AGM burner (see comparison of burners below; and the discussion here).

Trying to pin a date on these Goulburn Specials is very difficult but I think they are post WWII. Note that @Mike the stove has one in the Reference Gallery and he states the lamp was “...used for butterfly collecting in OZ during the late 1950's” (here).

In the Pressure Lamp Catalogue of @Mackburner this lamp listed under “Victory. Quirks Victory Lighting Company”.




























The Quirk’s burner.










Note the screw action of the pricker, in contrast to the push-pull action of the AGM.






This control wheel has been repaired.


I made the collar from stainless steel sheet. The original collar was brittle with rust.





Note the screw shut-off for the primus-type NRV in the gasoline lantern.
























The Quirk’s Burner compared to the AGM Burner

Quirk’s burner on right.




Comparison of the tank to a Nettlefold Kayen AP2.

All the measures of rim folds, height, diameter, fitting placements, etc are within a few 0.0mm. Except for the accentuation of the very top pressings, the tanks are almost exactly the same.

The treads on the filler boss, though, are not exactly the same (and this is also seen in Kopsen/Nettlefold Kayen tanks).





Up and running.




As it came.


I did ask the seller to keep the rose and the candle.





This was the original blue colour of the lantern tank before had been painted with the black and red/orange. I matched the blue as closely as I could. Note:




This is a very rare lantern, but it is also a very good lantern and a pleasure to use.

Thanks heaps to a member here who pointed me in the right direction.


I will add additional information on fettling this lantern in another thread.


Cheers

Tony

Postscript: I have also recently received some correspondence sent to Jim Dick (RIP) about the finding of these Goulburn Specials... That will be another post.

 

It's grand old lantern indeed!

 

An absolute gem, well done.

 

Very nice. I like the blue colour, much better than the black it's dressed in whilst sat atop that Gloria 400 casing in the second to last image.

 

What a wonderful lantern, well fettled!

 

That's a lovely old lantern!

 

Real winner!!

 

Looks excellent and very interesting. And great in blue too.

 

A interesting and rare old lantern, never have seen a Quirks.

 

A classic.

 

Excellent lantern and post

 

The Patent for the burner on this (and other) Quirk’s is posted here:

https://classicpressurelamps.com/threads/quirk’s-burner-patent-no-3904-1921.17861/

Tony

 

It's a good-looking lantern to be sure but it looks like a collection of leftover components from different manufacturers. We're the tanks copies of Kayen or re-cycled genuine ones?

I love the blue tank but then I'm a sucker for blue lanterns anyway!

 

@ColinG

The tanks are usually referred to as Kayen tanks. They are very, very similar to Nettlefold Kayen tanks, but the top, where the fuel feed and handle fit, is somewhat different. There are also at least two different pressings of the top.

The lugs on the tank and the position of the pump are in the same positions as Nettlefold Kayen tanks. On a Kayen, like a Tilley, those lugs would mate with a bail. So the question is, why are they on these Quirk’s? This is where the questions go around and around...

I’m working on another Quirk’s Victory table lamp which will add somewhat to the story, but not result in a conclusion as to where these tanks come from.

Note, too, that Colin Mills’ Quirk’s Victory lantern has a (faded) blue tank:

Goulburn Special Lantern


Cheers

Tony

 

Hmmm, interesting. Thanks for the info.

 

Nicely done and well documented.
Cheers
Pete