Posted 13 years ago
Vlw
(1 item)
I've just purchased this item for my husband and may have made a mistake in thinking it is a railroad lantern. After reserching - I'm finding it may be a construction lantern. One one side of the red globe is marked Little Wizard LOC-NOC Rec'd U.S. PAT OFF. The other has the Dietz logo - Syracuse N.Y. U.S.A. There are no dates anywhere!
Will someone please help me to identify this as a railroad, construction or wagon lantern?
Thank you!
Hi Vlw! Kaileys information is correct just generalized. It is very much a cold blast lantern. Specifically I believe this is a Dietz "Roadster" Wagon Lantern. ( http://www.lanternnet.com/archive/roadster.jpg ) These were introduced in 1915. If you measure the red lens and it is 3 inches it was made 1938 to the 1959. If it's not, 1915-1937. To get a better date of when it was made. The globe in the middle I believe was replaced. The Roadster was made to be used as a headlight and/or a taillight. So it should be clear in the center. The center globes break often. I don't think this was used for construction because you would have found a special marking to indicate which group owned it. Although
Although you can't ever be 100% sure what happened in a piece like this. Even though it's not marked, it very well could have been used by a group. The globe colors themselves have special meanings depending on which group used them. Red for firefighters meant Chief Engineer or Danger/Do Not Cross Hoses. For Marine/Naval uses it would be used as a port light. For Highway/Traffic it meant Stop/Danger.
One thing that I can't figure out about the lantern is the marking on the front. Most of these says NY - USA. Which makes sense because Dietz were producing in NYC and Syracuse. It could be a camera thing but your picture looks like it says KV - USA. If that's correct. I have no idea what to think about that. You would probably have to find an expert.
I hope I was able to throw in a little extra information on top of what Kaileys was able to confirm!
Thank you both for all of the GREAT information! You were both very helpful. The markings do say N.Y. - U.S.A. My camera angle makes it look skewed.
Vw
Not Railroad, but a nice Wagon lantern.