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Oil lamp? Very primitive.

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Lamps6928 of 8790set of 4 old Bowl Crystal shades Chandelier with eagle early 1900
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    Posted 12 years ago

    susandemay…
    (2 items)

    I received this from an old landlord of mine about 45 years ago. He was about 85 at the time and it was out in his garage. I know he grew up on a farm in New England (maybe the Litchfield Hills as I recall) It wasn't polished then and I never wanted to spoil the aged look so I have done nothing to it. The wick is the original from back then as well. I can find no markings on it. I don't see any way to adjust the wick except manually after the flame is put out (with that snuffer that is attached).

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    Comments

    1. susandemay2004, 12 years ago
      Can anyone tell me what this was for and about how old it may be?
    2. chinablue chinablue, 12 years ago
      I was looking at this and thought it was an old oil can, the type that you push in on the bottom to use. Perhaps someone made it into a lamp? I'll be anxious to see if anyone has seen one like it before!
    3. susandemay2004, 12 years ago
      That's kind of what I was thinking. The bottom has the feel of the old oil cans and it does push in like that. I'd love to find out more such as was this a common creation. Thanks for your feedback chinablue!
    4. Kollector Kollector, 11 years ago
      What you have is an alcohol lamp. It was used to produce a torch like flame to melt glass. Not made to provide light. A rubber tube was connected to the tube and you would blow air using your mouth. As the air blew into the alcohol flame a hot torch like flame would be produced. I had a similar one not as fancy but you could melt glass and pull it into fancy shapes. I connected mine to an inflated inner-tube so I did not have to use my breath. Just squeeze the rubber tube to adjust the flame size..

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