Custom lighting

The gas or kerosene lighting on this page are custom made,
primarily from pressure lamps and/or lantern parts by the collector.
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 light 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 the200A 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 light.


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..


Will Nelle used a fount and handle from a Coleman 152 table lamp,
repainted the fount red and added a reproduction Coleman logo on the side,
and combined these with the upper parts from a Coleman 200A lantern
to create his outdoor table lamp.
He wanted a taller light to illuminate the whole table outdoors.


An interesting combination of two appliances
is Bruce Kuda's "Yankee Ingenuity."
The fount is a blow torch,
and the lantern top is from an American Gas Machine Co. Inc.
Model 100 or possibly 3608 lantern.
This light is bright, has good balance, and can be carried for long periods.


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.


Jeff Johnson made this lantern from parts from
Optimus, Hasag, and Anchor lanterns
and fitted these parts to a Tilley R1 fount.


Rob Roberts calls this his Extremely Limited Edition Sears Lantern.
The lantern is the excellent work of Cheyenne Cobb for Rob
and is a modified Coleman for Sears,
the primary difference being the nickel plated fount.


Another light in Rob Robert's collection,
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 marmelade jar, Ludwig has named this lamp Marme-Landi.
While it is not a true pressure light, the mixing tube above the air intake hole (middle image)
must be constructed to provide just enough heat
to allow the air and alcohol mix to gassify sufficiently.
Ludwig made the mantle (right) himself.


Erik Leger mounted this smaller Mikro-Landi burner from Ludwig Gebauer
 in a paint can which he enclosed in a Swiss Army candle lantern casing.
Erik also raised the top of the casing to about 1cm for heat removal.
The light produces about 15HK or about 14CP
and uses 30-35ml of alcohol/hour.


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."


As found in an antique mall in Ohio,
this Coleman "200A" lantern is a curious combination:
the ventilator is likely from an early 1980's 200A;
the collar is a reproduction made of galvanized steel;
and the fount, dated May 1987, was likely sold by Coleman
as a replacement 200A fount.
The red is the same as used on some 286 and 288 lanterns of that period.


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.


Alex Simins salvaged the 249 Coleman that forms the top half of this lantern
but the fount was shot on this kerosene model.
As he wanted a lantern that he could run for several hours every night,
he sacrificed a mint condition 220H for the fount
and is now able to run the lantern for 10 hours in the winter without a refill.
The bail is from a 335 lantern.


Much rarer than a Poultry Lantern,
this Bird House Lantern is the creation of Mike Merz,
who used parts from Coleman lantern models 220E and 220F.
PVC caps painted black cover the openings to the
fount which he repainted with a hammered silver paint.


John Morris created this light by combining
a 200A Coleman lantern (top)
with a Canadian Coleman 157 lamp in the midsection
(under the exhaust pipe handle)
and a 1945 Coleman mil spec lantern (polished brass) for the base.


Steve Winikates thinks this lantern
may have been a prototype for a 1958 Edition
Coleman "Christmas" lantern
but, because of flammability issues that couldn't be overcome,
the lantern never went into production.


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.


 
 
American Gas Machine lanterns - early models
Main
AGM lanterns - models beginning with the mid-1930's
American Gas Machine lamps
AGM, King Seeley, & Thermos lanterns - later models
Coleman lamps before mid-1920's
Coleman lanterns pre-1931
Coleman lamps after mid 1920's
Coleman lanterns 1931 - 1945
Coleman hollow wire lighting
Coleman lanterns 1946 - 1960
Coleman stoves pre-1945
 Coleman lanterns 1961 - 1980
Coleman stoves post-1945
 Coleman lanterns 1981 - present
Custom lighting
Heater etc. manufacturers A - K
Hollow wire lighting
Heater etc. manufacturers L - Z
International lamp manufacturers A - F
International lantern manufacturers A - E
International lamp manufacturers G - Z
 International lantern manufacturers F - M
Irons
 International lantern manufacturers N - S
Links
 International lantern manufacturers T - Z
Pumps
Propane lantern & stove manufacturers A - B
 Stove manufacturers A - D
Propane lantern & stove manufacturers C
Stove manufacturers E - O
Propane lantern & stove manufacturers D - M
Stove manufacturers P - Z
Propane lantern & stove manufacturers N - Z
Swedish lamps
Tilley lanterns
Tilley household lamps pre-1945
US lantern manufacturers A - G
Tilley household lamps post-1945
US lantern manufacturers H - M
Tilley industrial lamps & lanterns
US lantern manufacturers N - P
US lamp manufacturers A - B
US lantern manufacturers Q - Z
US lamp manufacturers C - M
Wrench & other lamp tool manufacturers A - M
US lamp manufacturers N - R
Wrench & other lamp tool manufacturers N - Z
US lamp manufacturers S - Z



The content and opinions expressed on this page belong to the author of the page
and are not endorsed by North Central College.
The College accepts no responsibility for the content of these pages.
© 2000 Terry Marsh
Last updated December 20, 2007
 tgmarsh@noctrl.edu