Justrite Mfg. Co. in Chicago, IL, made two lantern models of which we are aware. Both are two mantled gasoline models and are found with rounded or beveled founts. Model 25 in the upper row lacks a pump while Model 30 in the lower row and below has a built-in pump. The lantern on the upper left is in Doug Dwyer’s collection while the one on the upper right is in George Burl’s collection The lantern in the lower row is in Craig Seabrook’s collection.
Dwayne Hanson got this Justrite No. 30 with the original box. Note that the fount is beveled around the top. The ventilator is embossed Justrite, Trade Mark, Made in U.S.A. The instruction sheet that came with this lantern is dated August 1925.
Justrite was more well known for miners’ lamps that produced acetylene gas from a controlled release of water onto calcium carbide. Their Model 10 lantern came in a tin with a tin of carbide stored in the bottom of the larger tin (upper image). This model had a magnifying lens and reflector behind the ceramic orifice where the acetylene flames burned so as to produce a directed beam of light in addition to the light broadcast through the globe to the sides (lower image). This lantern is in Ken Brown’s collection.
Justrite also made a No. 12 carbide lantern with a larger fount (top image) and a flint striker (middle image). Instead of just being stamped: Justrite, Pat. Appl. For, as on the No. 10 lantern above, this one is stamped with the June 5, 1917 patent date and Made In U.S.A. (bottom image). This lantern is in John Tuckey’s collection.
This lantern was made by A.G. Kaufman, New York, NY. It was designed to be run on either gasoline or kerosene. The frame base plate has a trough (lower image) to direct preheater fluid to the cup below the plate that surrounds the base of the generator. In lieu of a base rest, the lantern has a brass casting for the valve body (upper right image) that also supports the frame and burner assembly (upper left image). This lantern, in the Provost/Paradis collection, was found without the mica globe.
This unknown model lantern is badged: Manufactured By; Knight Light Co.; Chicago, U.S.A. This lantern is unusual in having an Otto Bernz built-on pump with a 1909 patent date stamped on the side of the pump. It is also unusual in having 8, rather than 4, frame upright rods. This model, that was in John Anderson’s collection, is torch lighting, with a tip cleaner lever below the frame.
While this lantern is also badged as above for the Knight Light Co., it was possibly made by the Gloria Light Co., also of Chicago. Neil McRae has designated these unknown Gloria/Knight Light models by letters; this is Model “R”, which is in John Rugotzke’s collection. The lantern is copper plated, an unusual finish.
Lancaster Lanterns made these Model 720 Nite-Hawk lanterns. The lantern in the upper images is a prototype, fitted on the left with a new ventilator. The fount is equipped with a rapid preheater, pressure gauge, pump (not visible), filler plug with a Schrader valve, and a valve. The production model in Neil McRae’s collection (lower left) was replaced with a larger fount version, as in Henry Plews’s collection (lower right). Features include a stainless steel fount & pressure gauge. This Amish kerosene lantern is very bright with two 500 cp mantles!
Lancaster Lanterns also made a Model 701 Nite-Hawk that utilizes a Petromax style burner that supports a single, 500 cp mantle (right image). This lantern, in Kevin Darnell’s collection, lacks a built-in pump but has a Schrader valve to use a separate pump to pressurize the fount. The small knob on the right operates the tip cleaner. The metal box behind the valve wheel filters air for the air intake tube. The lantern has an alcohol preheater only.
Neil McRae found the patent for this torch lighting lantern, 1,396,854, that was applied for in 1918 and granted in 1921 to Jay F. Lawrence of Chicago. Neil also found that it was manufactured by the Lawrence Manufacturing Co., Chicago. This lantern is in Dave Harris’ collection.
Lind-O-Lite lanterns were manufactured by the A.J. Lindemann & Hoverson Co., Milwaukee, WI. Many of their models have a carburetor valve. This Model 115, in Craig Seabrook’s collection, has an early, patented external fuel feed (upper image) and appears in a 1928 catalog. The fount bottom is stamped with the company information (lower image) as is usually seen on their appliances along with nickle plated founts and green enameled ventilators.
This Model 110A lantern was made several years after Model 115 above. It has an internal fuel feed. It appears in a 1931 Lindemann & Hoverson catalog. Note the valve wheel/tip cleaner projecting through the middle of the base rest, hence the A suffix in the model number. This lantern is in Neil McRae’s collection.
These Lind-O-Lite models are the same as Models 110 (left) and 115 (right) except they are finished in black and have different collars (McRae). These carburetor valved models have internal fuel feeds as Model 110A above but lack the separate tip cleaners so are comparable to 110 and 115. These models lack any company stamping on the bottoms so may have been made for companies that resold their products. These lanterns are in John Rugotzke’s collection.
Lind-O-Lite lantern Model 116 appears in a 1933 catalog. It is instant lighting, has one mantle, and is gasoline fueled. It uses a generator with a built-in tip cleaner (right). Neil McRae repainted the black fount; the ventilator is dark blue.
Lind-O-Lite lantern Models 125 (left) and 125A (right) lack carburetor valves but are also designed for instant lighting. There is a hole drilled in the glass for lighting the mantles (right). Model 125, in Neil McRae’s collection, uses a generator with a built in tip cleaner, while Model 125A, in John Rugotzke’s collection, has a separate tip cleaner control. These lanterns are in a 1933 catalog.
This lantern was made by the Little Wonder Light Co., Terre Haute, Indiana. It may have been marketed as a poultry lantern. A hollow wire lamp with similar burners was advertised as having 1250 cp! The heat output of this lantern led someone to drill additional air holes in the ventilator cap, which deformed from the intense heat output. The globe, cage, and ventilator were restored by Fred Kuntz and Craig Seabrook. This lantern is in the Vigo County Historical Museum, Terre Haute, Indiana.
The Model A pressure lantern Aladdin was manufactured by The Mantle Lamp Co. of America, Chicago, USA. This kerosene model, which dates to 1934, is in Larry Pennell’s collection. This lantern is a natural brass finish; others known are nickel-plated brass.
This PL-1 was made by the Mantle Lamp Co. of America, Chicago, IL, from 1939 to about 1947 with a hiatus during the war years. This is the probably the first “modern” lantern that Fil knows of that has the vaporized fuel injected into the top of the mixing chamber, and evidently was the design prototype to the military lantern. Neil McRae notes that it can be run on kerosene or gasoline and has an adjustable air intake to enable the burner to work with the same efficiency. This lantern is in Fil Graff’s collection. This model came with a match holder, right image, seen here in Neil McRae’s collection.
The Mantle Lamp Co. of America probably made this prototype donut lantern in the late 1940’s. Patents and another prototype in the current Aladdin Mantle Lamp Company’s office suggest that this may have been an experiment to design a civilian as well as a military donut model. Shadow reduction is the aim in this design.
The Mantle Lamp Co. of America may have made a short run of these lanterns for the military to test, as did Coleman. This one, in Dwayne Hanson’s collection, has a globe that lacks the bottom opening for lighting. As the globe on the version by Coleman lacks this opening, the globes may have been switched between the two models.
This is a McGraw-Edison (Boonville, MO) lantern-stove combo, Model 681004. The bail holds the lantern burner and ventilator on the globe cage. The conversion to the stove from the lantern involves lifting off the lantern head and slipping the stove burner tube over the generator. The reflector is removable. This lantern-stove combo, in Richard Johnson’s collection, came in the green plastic storage case. McGraw-Edison also marketed a four burner Ozark-Chef stove.
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The Terrence Marsh Lantern Gallery 