Any other lantern whisperers?

[NM5K]

Another one of my endeavers.. I use Coleman lanterns and stoves at my dirt patch.
I bought a 285 lantern, and a 533 stove, which are both dual fuel, back in 2007.
But.. trying to burn unleaded gas all the time didn't pan out too well. The gas they
sell these days is pretty dirty stuff, and makes for lots of goo when burned in
lanterns and stoves. Clogs the generators, and leaves a goo mess on the burners, etc..
But I also got fed up with other problems, which I think were due to the unleaded gas,
and the overall cheapness of the stuff, compared to the older stuff. IE: both had the
valve packings flake out way before their normal time.

So.. I got fed up with the newer stuff, and decided to buy some older stuff, and
also decided to use the more expensive Coleman fuel, instead of unleaded gas.
The problems with the cheap fuel was not worth the extra aggravation.
I had a Oct 1962 228E, that was my grandfathers, and then my dad used it back in
the 80's or so.. I've got it running good again.. But I want more..

So I started hunting.. The first ones I found and grabbed up were these..
The one is the left is a 1972 228F, which I got cheap off fleabay.. It looked good
on fleabay, but when I got it in the mail, I found it was like new. I think it had only
been lit once since it was new, and it still has the original 1972 mantles on it.
The one on the right is a 1966 220F, and I bought it along with the 1967 413G stove
in the second picture.

So.. I'm set pretty well for camping, but this mess gets addictive.. I want more, and I
want even older.. I then bought a Aug 1933 228B, and then a Jan 1938 220B.
Then a Oct 1928 L228..

This is the frame of the 33 228B before I cleaned it.

And this was the lantern after it's derusting and cleaning.

Then I cleaned up the 1938 220B.. This is the two B's together..

And with them both turned on..

Did I say this mess gets addicting... I want even more lantern mayhem.

So I then start scrounging for even older Coleman Air O and Quick lite lanterns..

So far, I've found a 1919 Coleman Air O lantern, a 1921-22 Quick lite, "327's" and two
Oct 1925 Quick lites, which were the first model to use the built on pump. "427's"
The Air O, and the 21-22 QL used external hand pumps, of which you can
see next to the lanterns.

1919 327

1921-22 327

The cleaner of the two Oct 1925 427's..

The five oldest ones lined up.. 1919,1921,1925,1925,1928
The 1925 on the right has the wrong vent.. It's from an old Akron lantern.
I've since swapped it for the correct Coleman vent. I've also replaced the
vent on the far right L228 with a cleaner one. That original had a lot of rust up top.

Let their be light!

I even found one of my birthday lanterns.. Born Oct 1956, same as my carcass..
After cleaning..

And turned on..

And I'm still looking for others, and want to build a Coleman Frankenlantern
using a lamp fount, and a QL burner frame.. I want it to be like a table top
Coleman Boulevard lamp, which was used for street lighting way back in the
early 1900's.

I'm also a flight sim nut, and fly very accurate 737 sims on the puter.. I've done
a 737-700 Coleman BBJ which I flit around in from time to time..
But I'll leave that for another thread.. I'll make a video of it later, along with some
of the others I run.

 

[Ron J]

And interesting. Thanks for the history!! It seems anytime you visit a Fleamarket, or a yard sale, there is a lantern or Coleman Stove that either appears never used, or well used.. A part of Americana history for sure!

 

[NM5K]

It is an addiction once you get going on them.. Or to me anyway..
It's kinda like rebuilding old cars, except on a much cheaper scale..
I use them all, so not really a waste.. I probably wouldn't bother if I didn't
actually use em much.
But it's getting to the point now, I have more than I can use at one time, so
I have to rotate them. :/ IE: last time I was up there, I took the 38 220B, the 62
228E, and the 66 220F.. Next time I take some different ones..
Probably a mess of the old Quick lites next time around..

I do like anything old. I sit there and run those old lanterns, and wonder
what all they saw all those past years.. IE: WW1 was just ending when the 1919
Air O was built. It's seen the flappers, the depression, WW2, and on through
the years. And they still work as good as new.

That's one thing I like.. You can often find them for chump change at garage
sales, etc.. And they are pretty easy to work on. I tear em down when I clean em.
I use citric acid to derust the frames. Mothers mag polish for the nickle founts
and vents.

Generally, the F series is the newest model I like to mess with.. That's from 62-63
until the early-mid 70's or so.. The 72 228F is the newest lantern I have. Well, not
counting the dual fuel stuff I bought new in 2007.

 

[BJ in Okla.]

I think I have 2 like the one in the picture that I found on ebay,,
2 that are red and I think the 3rd is chrome with a red top...
Are they old ???
They are single..
BJ

 

[NM5K]

The red one in the picture is a 200a. There will be a date code on the bottom of the fount.
On lanterns of that vintage, the left number will be the month, the right number, the year.
The 200a came out in the 50's, and on through the 60's and 70's.
The one in the picture kind of looks like a 60's model, but hard to say for sure.

 

[TheOtherLeggoHead]

I have an old Petromax. I can cook a small pot of Spaghetti on it.

 

[Steve O]

NM5K, I find what I believe to be lantern parts constantly, while detecting old 1700 and 1800 homesteads. Would these be of any use to you? I end up tossing them.

 

[NM5K]

Those are supposed to be real good. Don't have any here.. I'm just Coleman so far..
I've stayed away from some of the other brand old lanterns because the parts are harder
to find, and some have weird threads for generators, etc, etc..

 

[NM5K]

Hard to say.. If they were old Coleman parts, I might. If they were parts of old obsolete kerosene
lamps, probably not. But Coleman parts would be after the early 1900s on..
They could be on old properties like that though if they were still active in the early 1900's.