What era are the kerosene antique lights considered? An explanation of antique kerosene lights. "Kerosene antique lights used pre-piped gas because the kerosene fixtures had to be filled," says Sharon Nunnally,...
"Kerosene antique lights used pre-piped gas because the kerosene fixtures had to be filled," says Sharon Nunnally, who has been in the antique lighting business for 20 years and is the owner of Antique Lighting and Restoration in Denver. "After that people had a type of gas piped to their homes. They did not use natural gas the way we know it now for their kerosene lights."
Prior to the Civil War in 1861, Americans used mostly whale oil lamps and tallow candles for lighting. Around 1850 a Scotsman patented a method for extracting liquid hydro carbon from coal. Just before the war started there were about 30 plants in the United States making coal oil, which is what kerosene was first called. The popularity of kerosene for lighting lamps grew as people found they could get a brighter lamp for a lot less money.
In the early 1860s two important discoveries improved the kerosene lamp. First, a turnip shape oil container was designed and it replaced the elongated style already in use. Then came the flat wick burner which allowed a clear glass chimney to be attached. The burner was designed to easily unscrew from the oil container. This made cleaning and filling much easier.
Once these burners were easier to use and less likely to cause fires, glass producers throughout the country began making table lamps in a variety of styles and sizes.
One of the earliest kerosene lamps was called the peg bowl lamp. That's because its melon shaped bowl was pegged to its base, which was made of glass or marble. Huge quantities of kerosene peg lamps were manufactured in the 1860s. Many were pressed glass copies of popular tableware patterns. Elegant pre-Civil War styles of kerosene lamps had overlay glass where the top layers of color are cut away to show the color of the base paint.
Following the Civil War in the 1870s, Americans began using hand lamps. Improvements in lamps and burners made people feel safe enough to walk through their dark homes carrying a lamp. Some hand lamps were brass, while others were made of pressed glass. Some were footed to use as dressing table lamps in the bedroom.
Then came the bracket lamp. This kerosene lamp was made to sit in a swinging iron frame attached to the wall. They became popular in the kitchen and the bedroom. Some had frosted glass shades as a decorative touch.
Aladdin lamps were created by the Mantle Lamp Company of America, which was founded in Chicago in 1908. This lamp had a round wick with a mantle that could produce light equal to that of a 60 watt bulb. Through aggressive national advertising and a network of salesmen throughout the country, these lamps became the main form of lighting in rural areas. With the purchase of a glass company in Indiana in the 1920s, the company began making their own glass shades in a variety of styles, including reverse painting. While most of the country switched to electric lights in the early 1900s, Aladdin had a stronghold in rural America and continued to make and sell kerosene lamps through the early 1950s.
