Several important inventions around 1900 led to changes in fixed and portable lighting and heating. These inventions included vaporizing gasoline/kerosene under pressure and a mantle against which the pressurized gas would burn producing a bright white light. In North America many of the early companies that manufactured these new appliances were located in Chicago, Illinois. Competition among manufacturers may have led to the early demise of a number of these companies. The Coleman Company of Wichita, Kansas, emerged as the leader over the next several decades in North America. By the mid-1980's the Coleman Company was the sole major manufacturer of gasoline lanterns in the US.

In the early 1950's propane fuel in small portable cylinders led to the development of propane lanterns
as an alternative to the gasoline/kerosene fueled lantern.

Outside of the US, the fuel of choice has been kerosene (paraffin) for most of these appliances. A few US models use kerosene.

This website is an image collection of models of gas pressure lanterns, lamps, stoves, irons, and heaters.
To date this website includes contributions of 1454 images from 167 collections in 15 countries.
All lanterns, lamps, etc. in the collections of others are so identified.
To all these collectors: thank you for sharing treasures from your collections.
Special thanks to Neil McRae for his identifications and discussions of many of the appliances displayed on these pages.

Please do not ask for the value of a lamp or other gas pressure item.
The best place I know to get a value is completed auctions on eBay.
As some items are less common your search may take some time.

The latest additions on these pages are in red.

The photo logo was taken by E.C. Marsh in southern Ohio in the late 1950's using the light of his Coleman 200A lantern.