Light Bringer
Photos
These are some photos from the lanterns and other things that we have collected.
Pressure Lanterns
This is a HASAG No:42 Pressure Lantern. We think that it is from around 1950. The only information we have about it, is that it is made in Germany by Hugo Schneider Gmbh. Hasag together with Petromax , Aida and one more where the four companies that patented this system sometime in 1928. This lantern has a nipple marked 200 c.p. The lantern is 34 cm high, and the fuel fount is 15 cm in diameter.We found it on a flea market in autumn 2000.
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This is a Petromax 822 in the condition we found it. Found at a secondhand store in autumn 2000. Soon You will be able to find newer pictures of this same lantern, when it is polished and with a new glass inserted. If anyone has a shade for this lantern, please contact us. We have only seen drawings of this lantern before, and with a shade, it should be very good looking.
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Here is a Tower Brand pressure lantern. The modelnumber is 909 and it is a 350 c.p. model. They are made in China and as far as we know, they look just the same as "SeaAnchor" brand pressure lanterns, even the numbers are the same, but according to the makers of SeaAnchor it is a completely different factory that makes Tower brand lanterns. The name of the factory is "SuZhou Tieta Blowlamp Co, Ltd" and it should be in SuZhou in China. We have found very little information about the company on the internet, and even if we have tried to send them faxes, we have not yet received any answers.
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Here is a nice lantern that we found on a flea market. It is an Optimus 930 and has a glass handle on its side. It has a couple of dents, but now that we have all the parts (click on the image to see it when it is in working condition), we have tested it and it is working fine.. There has also been an optional shade to this model, but in our opinion it would work fine without the shade, perhaps when running in the night to the toilet that usually was outside the house. On the full size picture we have the lantern with the glassglobe and the heat reflector top.
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This is an Optimus 300. We were a little conserned about the top, but now we think it is the right one. We found this one also on a flea market, but some "stupid idiot" had converted it into an electric lantern. It was in very bad condition with lots of oxide on the tank, but thanks to vinegaer that problem is solved. The brass shines trough though. Now we have found a second one of the same type, and that one we have managed to get in working condition. Both lanterns are to bee seen on the full size picture.
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Radius 119 is the name of this lantern, and this is the condition we found it in. This lantern had also been converted into electric, and that way some parts have been destroyed. Hopefully we will have it restored sometimes. It was made by Radius Ab in Sweden. Unfortunately spareparts are very hard to get to this one. Here is a copy of the users manual for this lantern radius119txte.pdf and here is a link to the schematic view of the same: radius119pice.pdf .
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Here is a nice lantern that we bought directly from the owner that bought it in 1941 or 1942. A Petromax 828 Rapid. The owner had tried to convert it to electric, when the glass broke, and after that it had only been hanging from the ceiling collecting dust. We actually found a similar one, (but even older) Petromax 828 earlier, and thanks to Alan Moore (who suggested that we could buy it for spare parts), and Neil McRae (that could inform us that the top was original), we also bought that one, and now the spares came to use. This one is slightly newer, because the pressure gauge does not have the marks DRP and it has a separate tank lid. Bought 08.10.2000.
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Best known of all Tilleys is probably the Tilley X246, but it took us a while to find any of them. On 13th of November 2000 we finally found three of them, at the same place, and they sold them all together. One is marked april 1959 and according to Neil McRae, the other two (one of them is on the picture), are from betwen 1954 and October 1956. Before we cleaned this lantern we took a picture of it, and here it is. When we washed them, we noticed that they where in pretty good condition, at least on the outside. We are really looking forward to test these ones..
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Here is a newer one. The Petromax 830. We believed that it was the smallest of the Petromax series, but now we have found a Petromax 900 that is even smaller. This lantern (Petromax 830) is made in China, but we found out that the quality is pretty good. It is a 150 c.p. model and it is heavier than one could imagine. On the "More pictures" page, You will find some pictures from when we tested it on December 25:th when it was -15 degrees celsius...
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Yet another Tilley, this one from May 1966. Notice the legs that support the upper part of the lantern, and compare them with the Tilley above. We don't know if this one ever has been used, as there is no dirt on the hood, and there is an unburned "happy mantle" fitted in it. There is some odor of kerosene inside the tank so it probably have been used or tested by someone that have been carefull with it.
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This is a Hasag, but we don't know what model. On the top nut are the numbers "58/363/1002". We found 2 of these lanterns by mistake, as we went into a store to ask about something else, and we managed to buy them both from the owner. The one on this picture is already in working condition, and the second one (click on the image and You get to see them both), we traded for a Coleman 220J.
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Here is a nice lantern, the Radius 119 with modifications by the swedish army. Notice the flat top on witch it is possible to cook food or water, (we have tried it, but it took 1 hour to make one litre of coffee). These two we bought (one lantern each) in never used condition. The one Per-Henrik ownes, has a shade and a reflector. More pictures of these beautys (and us) will be at the "more pictures" page soon.
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This is an Optimus 200P in unused condition. This one is also from the swedish army. It is polished brass, and works beautifully. The swedish brands appears to be of high quality. This one is pretty heavy even if it isn't a big lantern. Definitely one of our favorites...
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This is a Santrax 829 500 cp lantern. These are made in China at the same factory as Petromax. They also look the same, but Santrax are made out of steel when Petromax are made out of brass. We have had some problems with this one, as the pump valve doesn't work correctly wich makes it hard to pump it up without breaking the mantle. We have put in a frosted glass globe in this one, and that looks beautifully.
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This is another Optimus 200 in the condition we found it. This one is nickel plated brass. So far we haven't tested it, but it seems to be in working condition, except for the glass globe and the mantle. Found at Juthbacka fair in the summer 2001.
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The smallest Petromax that we know of, is the Petromax 900, a 100 cp lantern. This one is in good condition, and is working very well. When we found it, it was black and tarnished all over, and the "globe cage" was bent out of shape so it was not a pretty sight. But the only things we had to get, was the glass globe and the pump leather. (Bought in summer 2001)
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Here is a brand new Petromax 829, 500cp lantern. Up to this moment it is in unused condition, but we are looking forward to an opportunity to use it. However, it is sad to see that the finish on a brand new lantern isn't as good as on an old (used) lantern. Maybe it is time for the factory to consider getting new tools as the Petromax logo now partially is unreadable...
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Our first Coleman lantern, model 220J. Manufactured in 1979. It is doublemantled but because of the "yellowish" globe it isn't too bright. Uses "Coleman fuel".
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Here is a Primus 991, 200cp lantern. We had to get a new glass and cleaning neadles and a nipple for this one. Fortunately we found the stuff finally because otherwice it would never have been working again. The enamelled hood is not perfect anymore, but it will do for us.
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This is a Tilley TL 136 table lamp. We made a new shade out of parchment paper with the same measures that shades for these lamps had originally. The burner was demolished a little, so we opened it in parts and changed some parts in order to get the restring for the shade straight. This is something one shouldn't do, but this time we managed to do it without breaking anything. A new glass globe had to be ordered from Base-Camp before we had it in working condition.
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Yet another Radius 119 lantern. This one is also a civil version, and note the pump that is slightly higher on this one, than on the other ones on this page. We managed to find a shade for this one when we visited Sweden in summer 2002.
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Vapalux M1 is the name and model of these lanterns, even if it says 21C on them. The 21C is probably a number that the army have used on them. We bought four of these and one of them is with the Bialaddin name and model 305, but that is only because they where marketed by two companies: Willis&Bates made them both, but later they where marketed under the name Bialaddin, by Aladdin Co.
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Two new Petromax lanterns, the smaller is a Petromax 830 (nickel plated) and the bigger is a Petromax 829 (also nickel plated). We have had some small problems with the bigger one as it smells when it is burning.
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My wife bought me this Aida 244 as a birthday present in June 2003. It is similar to Petromax 834 and in fact the glass globe and the shade that came with this lantern, had the Petromax logo. So far we haven't tested this lantern, but now we should have all parts for it.
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This is a Petromax 827 with red top, that we found not too sometimes at the end of 2005. Notice the old type of pre-heater torch wrench. This lantern did not have any spiritcup pre-heating system, but the torch works well on it and we have used it a couple of times now.
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In a box with 4 other lanterns and some crap, we could also find this nice Radius 108, that only needed a new mantle to get it in order. It had an Optimus 930 glassglobe, that we took off and instead put on another glass. This lantern is a little bigger than an Optimus 930, but still 300cp. We bought the box in august 2005.
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In the same box was also a Primus 1020 lantern. As I had another one that was incomplete, I could take parts from the one in the box (as that one was in worse condition) and got this one working. Here we first are burning the mantle, and later on we started the lantern that worked directly.
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This Coleman Quicklite LQ327 from 1924 is now the second Coleman in our collection. It is a two mantle lantern with mica globe and external pump. The fuel for this lantern is Coleman fuel and we have now also this lamp in working condition.
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A Hipolito H102 was found on a fleamarket in Helsinki. This lantern is almost the same as a Petromax 830, parts will fit directly, but still it is another brand. Bart Meijer found this frosted glassglobe and sent it to me and that was the thing that made this lantern look this awesome. Thank You Bart!
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Finnish lanterns aren't that known, infact we didnt know of any for a long time, but there has been at least two manufacturers of lanterns here also. Here is a Homelux 300 lantern that we now have in working condition. The burner and vapourizer parts are identical to Tilley X246. The lantern is as a combination of a Tilley and a Vapalux and was made only about 1000 pcs sometimes in the 50´s. The factory that made these was called "Metalli-Koura".
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This is yet another Finnish lantern, a Valmet 300. It is 300 cp and uses kerosene as fuel. It is made out of brass and weights 2,250 kg when empty (one of the heaviest lanterns this size I would say). Valmet is more known for making weapons and nowadays tractors, but after the war the factory also made lanterns and stoves among other things. The factory name comes from VALtion METalli, or roughly translated, "The State Metal".
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This lantern was an interesting finding. Found it 27 July 2007 and as it looked a bit different from the other lanterns we have, I decided to buy it. It turned out to be a Buflam - Petroflam lantern from sometimes 1940 - 1950. These where made at the Charles Twiggs factory in England, and it has come to our knowledge, that these were made only in a small amount. Never could we believe that we would find one here in Finland. After changing some washers, a nozzle, a pumpleather, the glassglobe and a mantle, the lanterned turned out to be working. Not good, but then again, who says these have been working perfectly?
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This Optimus 930 brass we found in a box with 4 other lanterns in 2006. Not until now I have finnished the polishing of it, and also tested the lantern. After some fettling with it, I got it running right, the vapouriser tube had to be tightened until it got the bright white light. Now it is working great.
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In July 2008, Tiina and I took a quick trip to northern Sweden and managed to find this beauty, an Optimus 1200 nickel platede. We now have one 200P nickel plated also and one brass 200 and one brass 1200. After some fettling with this one we got it running and we tested it for 1 hour without problems.
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Finally we managed to get this Tilley KL-80 into working condition. Actually, it wasn't in a bad condition when we found it in 2007, and it was a good trade also at the Juthbacka fair. We even got an Aladdin lamp to the same price :) It was missing a nut for the frame, the glass globe, the heat deflector and the burner was crap. The heat deflector is still gone, we had a spare burner, a friend made a nut for it and Mike at Base-Camp had the glass globe so now almost everything is in place.
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We got some problems with this Tilley X246 lantern one hot summer night and it shut it self suddenly. When checking it the next day, we found that the vaporiser was stuck in the spigot. The fuel we had been using, made the vaporiser too hot, and it had expanded so that we had to use a dremel to cut up the spigot in order to get the vaporiser away. Now finally we have new parts in the lantern, and now it is working again.
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Wick Lamps and Aladdins
This one we found hanging from the ceiling at a flea market and it was very dirty. When we looked at it a little more we could read the text "Matador brenner 20"" and therefor we dared to buy it. It has almost no dents, one small part was missing and that one we have ordered. The shade that came with the lamp was not original, so we didn´t put it on when we took this picture.
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Here is a brass Aladdin 23. The shade is not original, but it fits quite nice on this one. We know that the original shade looks a little bit different, but we could not find an original to such a price that we could afford it. This one we also found at a flea market, and it has never been filled with kerosene and the wick was not burned. We didn't look for another Aladdin, but when we found this one we had to buy it. After all, they are, in our opinion, the best wick lamps ever made, easy to use, good light, and the price almost rises from year to year.
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Anyone out there who knows what this is? We got it from a gentleman that had found it in his old summerhouse. On the wick control knob is a picture of a star with 5 edges. The burner is of brass, but of poor quality. The green glass bowl is in perfect condition though, without any marks at all on it. Our guess is that this one is from about 1950. We don't think it is much older, as there are threads on the glasspart, and we somewhere read, that then they are not very old. It is 26 cm high all together without the glasschimney.
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This is a Dietz Vesta from 1943. When we found this one, we tried it out for a couple of days during Christmas 2000, and we have to admit that it is a very good hurricane lamp. As far as we know, these where used on trains, at least in the USA, but this particular one have no station or other marks on the glass. Only the text "DIETZ VESTA NEW YORK USA". (This lantern is no longer in our collection, we swapped it in autumn 2002).
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Here is a Bismarck lamp with a Kosmos brenner. This one is a really good looking lamp even if the shade is not original. The shade is swedish handmade and the original shade is a little higher than this one. You can find a picture of how the original shade should look like on the KeroLamps page (linked from the Link page).
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Here is an odd thing again. A Graetz koecher No 1. It's a heater with two long (about 10 cm each) straight wicks that you can adjust separately with two knobs. We were supprised of how much heat it gives out, and it is in fact possible to cook on the upper part. The window is a mica glass. Found at Juthbacka fair in the summer 2001.
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This is an Augusta 15''' matador type wick lamp. Found in Jakobstad on "gammaldags torg" ("oldtime fair" an annual happening at the market place here in the beginning of July). The hanging device was missing so we had to make one ourselves. Our father helped us with the design.
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This is an aluminium Aladdin 23 hanging lamp with original parchment shade. This lantern is bought in 1974 according to the former owner. We didnt have to do any restoration at all to this lamp. Bought in summer 2002.
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A Genie Aladdin with 23 burner. This lamp I got from the states, and it is in wonderful condition. Have borrowed a glass and a mantle from another lamp at this moment. Will try to make a parchment shade for it someday I think, as the light is very bright.
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Yet another Aladdin 23, but this time a nickel plated table lamp. Found Tuesday 28 of August, 2007 at a flea market in Jyväskylä. The only thing that was broken on this lamp, was the mantle. After cleaning it with only degreaser (some kind of kitchen stuff), it turned out to be in very good shape. Will probably try to make a nice shade for this one.
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This Bialaddin Bowl fire I found on a carboot sale in June 2010. After checking everything and some new fuel it started right away. It gives out a lot of heat. A guard is missing though.
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