Oil and Kerosene Lamps in North America
Oil and Kerosene Lamps in North America
For over two thousand years, from before the birth of Christ until the late eighteenth century, there was little progress in the development of lighting. Grease lamps used in Greece and Rome in the second century B.C., differ only in appearance from those still being used in Pennsylvania and other parts of America well into the middle of the nineteenth century.
Very early oil lamp development can be attributed to the need for more efficient light sources to power lighthouses. Early lighthouses were primarily constructed of stone and burned wood, charcoal or tar. These fuels had problems as wood burned very quickly and needed to be tended by the light keeper constantly, and charcoal and tar emitted lots of smoke and fumes.
During the 1600's oil lamps started to become a popular fuel for lighthouses in Europe, although tallow and other wax lamps were still in heavy use. Despite being cheaper, the tallow lamps still reeked and emitted large amounts of smoke. As brick became more popular, more lighthouses were constructed of this new material, and coal became the fuel of choice. Although coal burned slower and required less attention, it did not produce a very bright light. In addition, coal left a film of soot on the inside of the glass panels of the lighthouse. As a result, many lighthouses continued to use wax or tallow candles as their primary light source. Eventually lighthouses started experimenting with refined versions of animal and vegetable oils to improve their light source.
In 1765 Antonie Lavoisier introduced a major breakthrough in lighthouse technology, which was the parabolic beacon reflector. This reflector focused the beams of light and intensified the result. The original reflectors were fabricated by using a wood form to create a parabolic plaster cast. Small reflectors made of polished tin were then glued to the plaster to create the reflector. The problem remained that oil-burning lamps produced acrid fumes and smoke, which quickly coated the reflectors and significantly reduced the light source.
In 1781 Aime Argand, a Swiss physicist, produced a cylindrical wick design that increased the supply of air and created a constant smokeless flame which was seven times brighter than a candle. It consisted of two cylinders of brass, an inside cylinder to feed oil to the wick, and an outside cylinder to bring oxygen around the wick. Bertrand Carcel who designed a version that used several wicks and a clockwork pump to deliver oil to the wicks further refined the Argand lamp.
In 1784 the catoptric optic, a rotating reflector-lamp system driven by a clockwork weight system, was developed. This mechanism turned the reflectors back and forth creating a unique light source or a change between light and dark, rather than simply producing a constant light. This system was developed due to the need to distinguish the lighthouse beam from others light sources.
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The most widely used lamp in lighthouses until 1812 was the spider lamp, which had a shallow brass pan as a reservoir and four to eight adjustable solid round wicks (without chimneys) that surrounded the pan.
In 1812 the U.S. Government purchased a patented "reflecting and magnifying lantern" from Winslow Lewis, a former ship captain. His catoptric (reflective) optic was constructed of multiple oil-burning lamps, usually burning whale oil, with each lamp having its own parabolic reflector. In later versions of this lamp, round green glass or plano-convex lenses were used in front of the lamps. Many feel that, his "invention" was simply a derivative of the original Argand lamp. This lamp also had many flaws. The reflectors were closer to spherical rather than parabolic, and the silver backing of the reflectors could be easily rubbed off. The individual parts of the lamp were not fastened securely and the brass gears wore out quickly due to poor quality plus their tendency to be fouled by dust and grime. Despite all of these problems, these lamps were placed in all 49 of America's lighthouses, due in large part due to the friendship between Winslow Lewis and Stephen Pleasonton who worked in the Department of State and Patent Office. Pleasonton would later become head of the Lighthouse Service. Interestingly, years later, a nephew of Winslow Lewis helped to bring charges against Stephan Pleasonton for his miss-management of the Service.
In 1822, Augustin Jean Fresnel (pronounced franell) revolutionized the lighting of lighthouses. He introduced the lens that would change the lighthouses forever. This French physicist had created a lens shaped like a bullet. Directly over and under the central glass drum were fitted curved dioptic prisms and then above those were fitted curved catadioptic prisms. The waist of the fixed lens was fitted with a central drum of convex glass around it. The revolving optic also employed a series of convex bull’s-eye lenses. The lens assembly had a delicate balance, was easily rotated and was extremely well manufactured.
Life in America was very different in 1909 compared to the world we live in today. Over half of The United States population of approximately ninety-two million people lived on farms or in small towns far away from major cities. Country roads were few and most people traveled on trails or ruts created by horse drawn wagons. Much of the population had never seen an automobile, and comforts we now take for granted, like light, heating, running water, bathrooms, washers, telephones, or mail delivery were virtually non-existent. The world was rapidly changing however as this was the beginning of the modern age. Of all the changes that were to affect everyday life, one of the most important was the bright white light provided by the Aladdin Mantle Lamp.
The Aladdin lamp represented the culmination of five decades of innovation beginning with the first oil well drilled in Pennsylvania by Colonel E. L. Drake in 1859. The sudden production of over 1000 gallons of petroleum per day from this well dropped the price of oil from one dollar per gallon to one dollar per barrel, which equaled 42 gallons. Suddenly, lighting oils such as kerosene, coal oil, and paraffin were cheap and plentiful. This turn of events had the direct effect of stimulating research on lighting devices. Many patents, (nearly one hundred) would be granted for improvements to kerosene-burning lamps over the ensuing years.
In the 1890’s the most popular kerosene lamps used round wicks whose flame received it’s air supply through a centrally located draft tube. These lamps were built around the Argand Principle. In 1784 Aime Argand, a Swiss chemist, developed and patented the Argand lamp. This design featured a flat wick formed into a cylinder around a central air tube, which boosted the burning efficiency of the lamp. By placing a glass chimney above the wick, an updraft was created which enhanced the brightness of the flame. The wick would draw vegetable oil, which flowed, from a reservoir or font, mounted above the level of the burner. This type of gravity-feed principle was in use until 1859.
The popular kerosene lamps in the 1890's used round wicks. They were constructed on the Argand principle of supplying air to the flame through a central draft tube. The round wick provided a larger burning surface and gave more light but consumed more oil than the common flat wick lamp. Furthermore, the flame was yellow, it flickered, and the lamp emitted smoke and odor in the home. Nevertheless, these lamps were an improvement in kerosene lighting.
In Europe, Baron Carl Freiherr Auer von Welsbach, an Austrian chemist, made an astonishing discovery with his invention of the incandescent mantle. Welsbach received his first mantle patent September 23, 1885. By 1890 he had developed a mantle-impregnating formula, which has remained virtually unchanged ever since. It was known that certain rare earth element oxides incandescence brightly under high heat. Baron von Welsbach was the first to come up with a practical use for this phenomenon and patent it.
His patent covered a cylindrical framework of gauze impregnated with oxides of thorium and cerium. When placed over a gas lamp burner jetted for heat and not light, it produced a much brighter light than a bare gas burner flame. When the gas is ignited, the mantle fabric burns away, leaving a brittle residual lattice of metal oxides. Light is produced when this lattice is heated to glowing by the gas combustion, although the mantle itself does not burn.
American consumers alone used up to 4,000,000 mantles per year once gas lighting became common in US cities. It was unfortunate however; that the Barons invention came along at the same time the electric light bulb was starting to catch on in the major cities. Despite the use of gas and electric in the big cities, the incandescent mantle still had a very important role to play in the un-developed areas of America.
Incandescent mantles had been used on round wick kerosene lamps for several years before a company called the “Mantle Lamp Company of America” was founded. Although there was a pretty good understanding of the general shape, size and mesh that was required for a mantle to glow properly under a kerosene round wick, the placement and suspension of the mantle over the flame in order to get an even glow was still a huge problem.
Victor Samuel Johnson, a Nebraskan, started out as a salesman for the Iowa Soap Company, which was based in Burlington Iowa. He formed the Western Lighting Company at the age of 25 to market a kerosene burner from Germany that produced a very pure white light. He discovered the burner while traveling as a salesman. His dream was to market a complete lamp and realized that dream when he found a US manufacturer to produce his improved kerosene mantle lamp burner. The lamp he produced was marketed under the Aladdin trademark, in 1908, one year later; Johnson formed The Mantle Lamp Company of America and based the company in Chicago. In the early stages of the company Johnson marketed lamps with the improved German burner under both the name Practicus and Aladdin.
In the early 20th century, America was starting the long transformation to the widespread use of electricity. Johnson’s new lamps with their improvements provided bright white light to towns, farms, and homes that remained beyond the reach of electrical service. Aladdin lamps were used everywhere you could imagine, city lamps, trains, lighthouses, homes, businesses etc. Around the time of World War II, the Mantle Lamp Company Of America was granted special permission to use copper in the manufacture of their lamps since their widespread use dramatically reduced the need for copper wiring. Copper was one of the key metals our government needed during the war effort.
Johnson’s engineering staff continued to improve the Aladdin lamp and the company was able to market these lamps around the world. In a brilliant marketing move, he targeted American customers by promoting that his oil lamps were easily converted to electric power by using one of Aladdin’s converters. Although considered expensive at the time, the Aladdin lamp was of very high quality, very dependable and available in all of the popular artistic designs of the time. Although the Aladdin lamps popularity has dropped over the years as electricity has become commonplace, the company exists to this day and is still manufacturing very high quality lamps.
Sources: Antique Lamp Buyers Guide - by Nadja Maril - Shiffer Publishing; Lanterns That Lit Our World - by Anthony Hobson - Golden Hill Press
