The Akron Lamp Co., Akron, Ohio, introduced this Model No. 15 radiant heater circa 1935. The 1 gallon tank inside the lower rear of the unit is filled by unscrewing the pump on the back (right image) and removing the filler plug below the pump. This instant lighting heater is advertised to run for 8-15 hours on a gallon of gasoline. The short nickel plated tube in the lower right side of the heater is a safety drain cup that can be emptied. Randy Hayes restored this heater to working condition.
The Albert Lea Foundry Co., Albert Lea, Minnesota, made this Queen Radiant Heater No. 60 that was patented in 1926 (lower image). This heater is in Logan Bourdon’s collection. The Albert Lea Foundry Co. also made camp stoves and the water heater below. The Queen name was later used by the Queen Stove Works, the successor company to the Albert Lea Foundry Company (McRae).
The Albert Lea Foundry Co. also made this Queen Water Heater Model 266 in the same period as the radiant heater above. Gasoline from a separate tank enters the heater above the letter A in the lower image. The fuel-air mixture burns at the slits cut across the burner, above B in the lower image, thereby heating the water in the coils above before it leaves by a pipe (not shown). Burned gases leave the chamber at the top middle and are carried away in a larger pipe (also not shown). This water heater is in Logan Bourdon’s collection.
The American Gas Machine Co. made this Radiant Heater No. One. All 7 of the ceramic radiants are original and only required cleaning along with the rest of the restoration. The large gas tank is behind the door in the base of the unit. Harold Porter bought this heater at a farm sale; he found it in a three-hole outhouse!
AGM made this No. Six Ready Glo heater (bottom & middle images) circa 1930. The PAT. APLD. FOR (bottom image) is likely for their instant lighting patent that was filed on May 3, 1929, and granted on April 5, 1932. The heater is finished in green and black crackel lacquer and has a polished 14″ diameter aluminum reflector. The fuel valve is on the right side of the heater at the top of the 3 pint fount (upper right image). This heater is in Cain Kremitzki’s collection.
This No. 9 radiant heater also appeared in an AGM catalog 37, dated 1932, with The No. Six heater above. Note the built-on pump mounted on the right side of the case (lower image). A combination fuel level and pressure gauge is mounted at the bottom of the pump. The tank is accessed by sliding it out of the case to the right or by lowering the door in the front. The heater is finished in dark green wrinkled baked enamel while the side handles, legs, and trim are finished in antique copper. This heater is in Cain Kremitzki’s collection.
Coleman made 7487 Model 3 “Hot Beam” radiant heaters, all in Aug – Dec, 1928. This one is dated Aug. 1928 and is in Neil McRae’s collection. This is a Quick-Lite appliance and should start relatively easily after heating the generator with two matches but it is more difficult to start than that. Once it is running it runs well.
Coleman Model 480 was also called the Hot Ray radiant heater. This heater, in the Nichols’ collection, was made in Wichita and is dated Oct 1929. It has the original ceramic radiant and still works well. This heater can be tilted to the horizontal position and used to heat food on the wire guard which becomes a grill.
Coleman – Toronto also made the 480 Hot Ray heater. The handle has lost much of its original two-tone black and silver paint. Mike Ogilvie, whose collection this is in, found that the upper knob to secure the reflector as well as the back of the reflector were also painted silver at the factory. The heater is date stamped Sept 1929.
Coleman made this radiant heater for their Sunshine Safety Lamp Co. subsidiary in Kansas City, Missouri, beginning in 1926. The fount and handle are the same as on their Model 532 lamp and the fount is stamped with that model number. This heater, in Jan Dyke’s collection, lacks the ceramic radiant.
Several of these small fount Coleman Hot Ray heaters have turned up in Australia, according to Iain Sedgman, whose collection this is in. The diameter of the reflector is 13″, less than the Model 480 above, and the wire guard is proportionately smaller. The original 6″ diameter rusted fount, dated July 39, was the same size as this replacement Coleman lamp fount, but is not nickel plated as the original. Iain replaced the asbestos mantle with one he made from a piece of metal pipe. He also repaired the middle area of the reflector.
Coleman’s No. 2 radiant heater was made in the Wichita factory more than a year earlier than their No. 4 model below. They made 33,749 between April 1926 and the end of 1929. Model 2 differs from No. 4 in requiring a separate pump. In the lower image you can see the large filler cap on the left side of the tank has an air screw for the pump nipple. This heater is in Agostino Del Coro’s collection.
Coleman shipped 30,126 thousand No. 4 radiant heaters from June, 1927 through 1929 (Charleen Becker – Hiram Strong’s “Shipping Records”). This match lighting appliance, in Ron Drake’s collection, has 8 ceramic radiants. It requires preheating and has a large fuel tank with built-in pump behind the front panel (lower image) The pump is on the right end of the tank with a black knob that extends out of the heater case.
We photographed this No. 4 heater one evening when it was running. The second radiant from the left has a different pattern cast in the back of the ceramic material that easily identifies it as a replacement when it is running. This heater is in Phil Rhoades’ collection.
Coleman made their No. 5 heater in 1929-30. This model included a new Instant Gas starter by just scratching a match (controlled by valve C in the right image), and a new Thermo-Safety Generator that automatically controls the flow of fuel (Wright). The heater includes an integral pump and heater control (lower image). In the upper image, A is the filler plug, B is a combination fuel level and pressure gauge, and D is the valve for turning the fuel on and off. This well-designed and constructed heater is in Ron Becker’s collection.
Coleman’s 5A heater is much the same as Model 5 above. The inspection tag on this heater has a printer’s date stamp of May 1929. The controls are positioned the same as on Model 5 above but the instant light and fuel controls on the right in the lower image are levers rather than knobs. This heater is in Alan Shiplett’s collection.
Coleman made their No. 5B heater from 1936 until 1942 (Becker’s Coleman Shipping Records). Glenn Knapke restored this heater which was in his collection. This model requires preheating.
Coleman made the Model 456 Soldering Furnace and the 454 Utility Burner in the later 1920’s and early 1930’s. This one, in Dwayne Hanson’s collection, is dated Nov. ’29. The brown lacquer on the collar may be the remnants of the original finish on this never-plated brass fount. The knob was replaced with a “T” handle by a previous owner.
Coleman Canada advertised the Model 16 heater in the mid-1930’s, according to Roland Chevalier, whose collection this is in. The art deco guard in front of the radiants is as on Model 17 (upper and lower images). This model is instant lighting.
Coleman made these Model 520-498 Battery Heaters in 1943. The grate arms from a 520 stove were removed (lower left image) and a flue with a flue skirt and two latch bars and a funnel with a top clip and telescoping spout was added. The flue skirt can be raised to adjust the valve during operation (lower right image). The three hooks on the top of the flue lock it in place on the bottom of a battery box (not shown) for heating the batteries in cold weather. The upper image is of another of these heaters, in Bill Whitten’s collection, that came with the case including the brackets to mount it in a military vehicle. The battery heater in the lower images is in John Bell’s collection.
Coleman introduced the Twin-ring flue cap in August 1948 to all the jobbers via the Coleman News as a better way to exhaust heat from their furnace and space heater chimneys. A year later employees realized that the 7″ diameter flue cap would attach over the burner on a 500 stove (right image) and alerted the jobbers to this secondary market that made the stove an effective heater. The 4″ cap was advertised to convert a 530 stove to a heater. This Coleman 500 stove, dated B 1947 and with the flue cap, is in Sam Heath’s collection.
Coleman Canada made these radiant heater Models 18 (left) that used kerosene and 19 (right) that used gasoline. The art deco design has only two wide radiants rather than several narrow radiants as in other models. Paperwork with the Model 18 is dated Jan. 1950. These heaters are in Tom Muscardin’s (left) and Bo Ryman’s (right) collections.
Coleman Canada made this Solus stove with a roarer burner circa 1950. It was exported to Australia where the Coleman distributor, C. J. Thomas & Son, Pty. Ltd., sold it with their heater conversion kit, 532R400. The kit included the reflector, cone (to disperse the heat) and guard that were supported by the 3 grate legs and the lip of the roarer flame spreader. The heater can be compared to several Primus Brand heaters lower on this page. This stove-heater combination is in Greg Diehl’s collection.
An Amish shop in north-central Indiana made these buggy heaters to hold a Coleman 500 stove (left, dated A [Jan-Jun] ’51) and a Coleman 502 stove (right, dated May 1962). The sliding door protects the buggy occupants and the upper, double-walled enclosure prevents burns. A handle and place to hook the heaters to the dashboards are not visible. This heater on the left is in Jon Schedler’s collection.
These Drum Heaters, No. 5050 (left), and No. 999 (right) were made by the Kamp-Site Products Co., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, for the Coleman 500 and 502 stoves respectively. The drum heater and 500A stove (left) are in Fred Kuntz’s collection. The stove is dated Jan. 1957. The drum heater and 502 stove (right) are in Dennis Hanson’s collection. The stove is dated Jan. 1968.
Coleman also made drum heaters for their Model 501 & 501A stoves in the early 60’s (left) and Model 502 from the mid-1960’s at least to the later 1970’s (right). Drum Heater 501-952, in John Morris’ collection, lacks the cut-out for the burner on stove Model 502. Drum Heater 502-952 is on a 502 stove dated May 1972. The vertical steel clips attach the heaters to the stoves.
The Canadian Coleman factory also made this Model 519 heater that is date stamped Feb. 1983. This heater, in Mike Ogilvie’s collection, uses the same size fount as on lanterns of that period such as the 321 series.
The Companion Heater Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia, made this 5C heater attachment for their 5C stove. The stove’s silent burner heats the domed heat diffuser that is suspended where the third stove leg would be inserted. The other two support leg supports now hold the aluminum reflectors. The lower reflector is stamped Companion. The heater was advertised to run for 4 hours with two pints of kerosene in the tank. This heater is in Iain Sedgman’s collection.
Erich & Graetz AktienGesellschaft, Berlin, Germany, introduced this Model 85N heating and cooking unit in 1939. This appliance, in Juan Caiti’s collection, has 3 ceramic mantles arranged in a triangle inside the similarly shaped generator loop. The fount, which is the same as used on Petromax lanterns, holds 1 3/4 pints of kerosene and will burn for 7 hours. A ring to hold pots on the top cooking surface is missing.
This Petromax Model 1500 lantern can also be converted to a radiant heater by removing the mantle and inserting an accessory stainless steel basket. This lantern-heater, in Marc-Andre Müller’s collection, was manufactured after WWII when the company was located in Altena, West Germany. An outer screen that adds to the heat output was opened for this image.
This Petromax Model 829 has been outfitted with a reproduction heater adapter made by collector Roman Auf der Maur who made a few for friends. This one is in Erik Leger’s collection. The adapter is used in lieu of a mantle to maximize heat output.
J.A. Gamble Pty Ltd made this Cosyglo kerosene fueled heater in New South Wales, Australia, probably in the late 1950s-early 60s based on advertising. The tank (middle image) is accessed from the back. The valve (not seen) controlling the heater is on the left side of the heater. The four ceramic radiants are heated by four burners at their base (bottom image). This heater is in Iain Sedgman’s collection.
The Gloria Light Co. of Australia (Melbourne) made this radiant heater with the same blue paint finish with gold accent as on table and wall lamp models that Albert White has seen. This heater, in Martin French’s collection, includes the wire mesh heating element (right image) and has a height adjustment screw on the front of the fount.
Model 156 Radiateur Succes was sold from the mid-1920’s until the early 1930’s by two French companies, Louis Compain et Cie, Paris, then Guenet & Abbat. It is designed to be a free standing heater or wall mounted, as seen here. The metal guard is strong enough so that the reflector can be pointed vertically when free standing so it can be used as a cooker. This heater is in Neil McRae’s collection.
This heater is stamped with the Hasag brand, but we don’t know when it was made or the company name at the time of manufacture. The heater, in Agtas Tahsin’s collection, has a silent burner and uses gasoline or a gasoline blend. It was used by the German air force.
This Veritas brand bowl fire (radiant heater) apparently was made by Samuel Heath & Sons, UK, based on similarities to a Thermidor brand lantern made by them. This bowl fire is in Neil McRae’s collection.
Aktiebolaget B.A. Hjorth, Sweden made this Model 110 Primus heater. This heater, in Dane Gernecke’s collection, lacks the wire guard and a draught shield that sits on the alcohol cup. By inserting standard legs in lieu of the reflector and heating cone supports, the appliance becomes a tripod stove with a silent burner. The date code AN (1949) is stamped on the bottom.
Aktiebolaget B.A. Hjorth made the Model 155R (Radiator only) heater on the left, while the 155R heater on the right is marked Made in Norway so it was presumably made by Hovik Verk in that country under license. These heaters, in Bo Ryman’s collection, have silent burners; the heating cones and reflectors are supported by the tripod legs.
These Model 158 Primus heaters differ in the reflector finish. Model 158/2 (left) is nickel plated aluminum, but is stamped 158/15 on the bottom and is date stamped 1939. Model 158/3 (right) is brass and is only stamped 158 and is date stamped 1947. These heaters are in Bo Ryman’s collection.
This Model 1012 Primus heater is date stamped 1931 and has a large 3.5 liter fount! This heater is in Bo Ryman’s collection.
The fount on this Model 1010 Primus heater holds nearly two pints of kerosene and will run for 7-8 hours on a filling. This heater, date stamped 1952, is in Ruedi Fischer’s collection.
This bowl fire was made by Imber Research, a British company. It is the same as a heater made under the Bialaddin name (compare to the bowl fire on the right below). This heater is seen here running on kerosene; the alcohol preheater with the wick and cup is just below the mantle. This heater is in Will Nelle’s collection.
Willis & Bates made these 3 versions of the Bialaddin F2700 bowl fire. Type 1 on the left has an air block and flat handle base (bottom) and a preheater fill spout (top). Type 2 (center) is as Type 1 but lacks the air block and spout. Type 3 (right) is as type 2 but has a dipped handle base. These bowl fires are in Neil McRae’s collection.
Johannesburg Metal Pressings is believed to have manufactured this Apex brand heater. This heater is in Alan Ford’s collection. The curved surface above the burner turns a strawberry red color when running, according to Alan. This piece is easily dislodged and needs to be cleaned of soot if the heater has not been running at full power.
This Kayen radiator, model HR 11, is in Jim Dick’s collection. It was made in Sydney and Melbourne, by W. Kopson & Co. and T.S. Nettleford & Sons respectively, between 1945 and circa 1955. Founts were usually polished brass not copper as seen on this model, which is sprayed with gold lacquer. The reflector is polished copper.
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The Terrence Marsh Lantern Gallery 