The appliances on this page are custom made by the collector, from a wide variety of parts. Creativity is evident in these pressure lights! Here is one solution to the problem of what to do with those old parts!
Del Caley created “Francina” from an Akron lamp fount with a 200A valve under a 242 burner and globe cage. The lamp includes a Quick-Lite shade holder, an amber 200A globe, an igniter, modern red glass shade, and an old sink faucet handle adapted to the hub of the 200A wheel. Del modified the tailpiece from the fount to complete the creation.
George Rocen started with a fluted Quick-Lite lamp fount manufactured in Toronto, Canada in Sept. ’36, stripped to brass and polished. The handle is repainted to the original lamp. Using two identical Coleman burner assemblies from the 30’s, George joined them with Coleman fittings to the fuel tube and created a strap and shade hanger at the top to hold the modern shade. Two R55 generators and alcohol cups complete the lamp.
Jeff Johnson made his “Vikingson Special” from a polished to brass Coleman (Wichita) CQ fount and handle and the upper portions of a Canadian Coleman 237 lantern. He found a brass adapter on another old lamp to join the lamp and lantern portions to one another.
Using the smaller copper fount from an early 1930’s Tilley “Jacobean” ML96, Jeff Johnson made a reproduction oak base similar to one that has only been seen as a figure in Tilley literature in 1940. The champagne glass shade dates to the 1940’s.
Rob made his “Frankenstein Profane” light to “keep good parts from going to waste.”
This Sears-Coleman-Paulin or 5114/228 light graces his patio by the grill.
A vase lamp sold by Montgomery Ward as Model 450F418, and manufactured by the Akron Lamp & Mfg. Co., had a temporary residence in this coffee can while Neil McRae was restoring the original vase that came with this lamp. He put sand around the fount in the coffee can for stability and was able to run the lamp – a genuine? coffee table lamp – as seen here.
Ludwig Gebauer built this alcohol lamp using the principles of the Tito Landi lamps. As the fount is a marmalade jar, Ludwig has named this lamp Marme-Landi. While it is not a true pressure light, the mixing tube above the air intake hole (upper right image) must be constructed to provide just enough heat to allow the air and alcohol mix to gasify sufficiently. Ludwig made the mantle (lower image) himself.
The base of this lamp is a Kitson Excelite, which Jeff Johnson, the owner of this lamp, can date by an ad to 1923. The fount is pressurized with a bicycle pump. Jeff used a brass adapter above the handle to connect the base to a Tilley table lamp. Henry Plews has given this lamp the name “Kittey.”
Jeff Johnson calls this floor lamp his Long Tall Tilley. He refinished the base and stem of an electric oak lamp and added lead weight to the underside of the base for added stability. Jeff had the Tilley fount cradle and base made so that it screws into the electric adapter at the top of the stem. The lamp is a WWII vintage Tilley ML93 fitted with a white opal gas globe.
A difficult to solve fount problem on a Bialaddin T10 led to a new “marriage” with a Tilley TL106 now known as “Billey.” Billey is owned by friends of Linda Massey, Eric Baillie and Jean Gillies, all of whom worked on the lamp.
This larger copper Tilley ML93 fount from the mid to late 1930’s is now safely nested in an oak Veritas woodblock that was used for a wick lamp. Jeff Johnson completed the new lamp with a Pyrex glass shade from a gas light.
Joe Pagan created this custom series of Coleman 502s and a 501 stove (bottom, second from right) in over a year’s time using stoves that were in poor condition. Randall Adams made most of the Coleman labels that Joe applied after they got their new paint jobs to match several models of Coleman lanterns, especially Model 200A. Upper, l-r: Gold Bond 502-704 (a friend’s designation), Xmas 502, Blackband 502 & Sears 72502 (Joe’s designation; note the Sears knob). Lower, l-r: burgundy 502, factory green 502, red 502, 243-501 and 275-502.
John Powers found this Tilley X246 lantern base to which a previous owner had substituted a Tilley heater element and fabricated a sheet metal box with 3 side layers to direct the heat out of the front and top of the unit. There may have been a grill fastened across the front at one time. It runs well; the insulated portions barely get warm to the touch.
Gregor Hoeing married a European stove tank to a Petromax lantern top with other parts from fondue set (the reflector) and a benzene (gasoline) blow torch. Gregor can run this very bright light for 15 hours on a single fuel filling.
Gregor Hoeing made this Little Baby wall and table lamp from a Bat brand tripod stove and Petromax 150 cp lantern top, so it is his Model WTL 150 G. This lamp runs for 12 hours on a single fuel filling.
The tank on this donut lamp was made by Gregor Hoeing from rain downspouts while the burner parts are primarily from a Tilley; the globe is a Feuerhand. This 300 cp lamp will run for 30-35 hours and runs very silently.
Gregor Hoeing made this second donut lamp with burner parts from a 500 cp Petromax. Gregor preheats the lamp with a propane torch This very bright lamp runs for about 7 hours on kerosene.
Bob Meyer joined an Akron 103 lantern head to a brand new Leacock 107ss fount to create this unique outdoor bracket or wall lamp.
Person(s) unknown assembled this light for night fishing in the many lakes in northern New York near Lake Ontario. The assembly includes a hollow wire tank, burners from a Quick-Lite and early 220 Coleman lanterns, a street lamp shade and 236/237 Coleman ventilator. This light is in Roger Haynal’s collection.
Ludwig Gebauer made this lamp from parts including a Truma Brand German propane lamp. Ludwig made the fount from two stainless steel bowls, one is 28 cm diameter that forms the incurved base plate and the other is 20 cm diameter for the top. The two bowls are sealed together with a bicycle inner tube and the center bolt/lamp post. Ludwig constructed the pump (right on the fount) from parts. The fuel valve is to the left on the top of the fount and the pressure release is in the middle rear. The fuel line (right image) is calibrated in to 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 bar; Ludwig operates the alcohol lamp at 0.2 bar and made the mantle “from scratch.”
The donut tank on this lamp was made by soldering 5 pieces of copper downspout together. Ludwig Gebauer made the lamp body and reflector from an electric lamp. As his other lamps, Ludwig runs this on alcohol at low pressure, between 0.2 and 0.3 bar; the fuel valve is below the manometer. The tank is pressurized with the rubber bulb. The lamp is fitted here with a 250 cp Luxor mantle.
 
Agostino Del Coro put a recent, hand-painted shade on a polished-to-brass fount Coleman 128C that is date stamped August, 1945 to create his “Frankenlamp.”
Wayne Morrison joined the base of a Coleman CQ lamp with a plumbing tee, elbows, and pipes to tops of two 228F lanterns. Since the CQ isn’t instant lighting and only has a fuel tube, Wayne made preheat cups for the bases of the generators out of copper tube caps.
Bill Sheehy customized his Coleman No. 460G Handy Gas Plant with a new paint job, label, and varnished plywood base. The label (second image) includes his creative uses for the appliance. Bill was boiling eggs when the image was taken. The base has three concentric layers (third image). The top circle is covered by the appliance and includes the stenciled directions enlarged and painted on the wood as the original part is unreadable. The bottom two circles are lined up by two aluminum posts and held together by two magnets. When opened (fourth image) the wrenches needed for service are exposed.
This Coleman-Wichita bracket lantern is date stamped Nov. 1929 and consists of parts from that period. Tony Press got the lantern from a collector in rural Australia, where it had been in his collection for a long time. The lantern had not been modified by the previous owner or Tony. The tabs to attach a bail to the frame are still on the lantern. Tony replaced the mica globe with one reproduced by Fred Kuntz. Tony enjoys running this lantern!
Ken Mackenzie’s “Apollo 400” custom Coleman stove is dated May 1981. Ken found the “Nasalization” font on the internet to create the lettering on the decals for his Apollo rocket themed 400 stove. He removed the legs and drilled holes in them as on a 400B to enhance the Apollo theme before reattaching them with black nitrite fasteners. He used high temperature paints to decorate the stove and added clear coat to the tank.
© 2000-2023 Terry Marsh
The Terrence Marsh Lantern Gallery 