WW I Snead Victory Lamp- Morgan Explosion

[72 usmc]

Some period history, but street lighting. The source is the American Gas Light Journal, July 1906 this enlarges if clicked on so you can read it.

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https://books.google.com/books?id=6uwiA ... er&f=false

When you think about it, I bet by 1919 -1920 gas lighting was falling out of fashion- more cities were going toward electric lighting with some of the rural farmers and towns still using more of the oil/kerosene lamps until rural electrification came to the town. I wonder how many gas versions were actually produced by the Snead company?

Here is a gas swivel, upright light, with a Welsbach Burner. Picture source is smith 11. Fantastic photos of an upright Welsbach burner.

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Trade card no date.

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A close up showing a glass chimney on an upright Welsbach burner ( No. 31) and a white "milk glass" shade around the glass chimney (No. 74 shade).

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The Illustrated London News ad 11 Nov. 1899

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1923 Saturday Evening Post magazine ad - they certainly made a variety of lights with their burner. This was a well known, utilitarian, well functioning burner at a reasonable price-- that is why Snead must have selected the Welsbach burner. It must have been a common, cost effective, and a proven well functioning burner that was already in use on a good number of gas lamps just after the turn of the century.

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The modern gas mantle was one of the many inventions of Carl Auer von Welsbach, a chemist who studied rare-earth elements in the 1880s and who had been Robert Bunsen's student. Ignaz Kreidl worked with him on his early experiments to create the Welsbach mantle. His first process used a mixture of 60% magnesium oxide, 20% lanthanum oxide and 20% yttrium oxide, which he called "Actinophor" and patented in 1885. These original mantles gave off a green-tinted light and were not very successful. Carl Auer von Welsbach's first company established a factory in Atzgersdorf in 1887, but it failed in 1889. In 1890 he discovered that thorium was superior to magnesium, and in 1891 he perfected a new mixture of 99% thorium dioxide and 1% cerium dioxide that gave off a much whiter light and produced a stronger mantle. After introducing this new mantle commercially in 1892, it quickly spread throughout Europe. The gas mantle remained an important part of street lighting until the widespread introduction of electric lighting in the early 1900s.[3]

source of quote: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_mantle

Auer von Welsbach did not work only in the rare earths, though they were a favorite of his. His most widely known invention, the incandescent mantle, was patented in 1885, and called the "Auerlicht." In German, the incandescent mantle is known charmingly as the "Glühstrumpf" or "glow-stocking." A knitted sleeve was soaked in a solution of nitrate salts and dried. To use it, it was first mounted on the lamp burner above the frame, and then lighted with a match. The organic parts burned, leaving fragile network of oxides in the path of the flame. When the lamp flame was lighted, and adjusted to be blue and nonluminous (the Argand burner was ideal for this) the mantle was heated to incandescence, giving a bright white light. The original mantles used Mg, La and Y. Pr, whose oxide is light brown, was used for the label printed on the mantle, which could be seen when the mantle was in use. They were very fragile, and so had a short life, and gave a greenish light. A factory was established in Atzgersdorf in 1887 to make mantles, but it soon closed because of the deficiencies of the product. Auer von Welsbach worked assiduously to improve the mantle, and in 1890 discovered that thorium was better then magnesium, and in 1891 found the combination of 99% Th and 1% Ce that gave a long-lasting mantle with a brilliant white light. The factory reopened, and a new, larger factory was established in Althofen, in Carinthia (Kärnten), where he made his home. The Wesbach Mantle soon spread world-wide, and revolutionized gas lighting. Illuminating gas no longer had to be carburetted to make luminous flames, and mantles worked excellently even with natural gas. Welsbach mantles are still used on camp lanterns and similar illuminating devices, though Y has replaced Th because of ignorant radiophobia.

The Welsbach and General Gas Mantle Company made mantles in Camden, NJ from the 1890's until 1941. More than 50 years later, this factory, then converted to other uses, was identified as a radiation hazard by the EPA. It is not possible to determine the facts of the case from published EPA documents, since they never give any survey figures or even say what their standards are, but it is very probable that this was an extremely minor hazard, giving gamma radiation levels scarcely higher than the cosmic-ray background. It is reasonable that some thorium contamination was left in the area, but thorium is extremely feebly radioactive, and thoron contamination would have been equally negligible, easily counteracted by ventilation. The fear of traces of radioactivity has also driven thorium out of a reasonable use as an alloying agent for magnesium in aerospace alloys, where it was an equally small hazard. Fortunately, Y substitutes for Th in mantles, and a mixture of Y, Zr and other lanthanides is a substitute in Mg alloys. However, I have not seen any credible evidence that Th has ever been a health hazard because of its feeble radioactivity. There are far greater hazards in other places, and ignorant campaigns like this interfere with public protection rather than benefiting it by absorbing valuable resources.

Gas mantles give a light in every way competitive with electric light, and even cheaper. However, the bother of dealing with gas and mantles has made gas lighting disappear even in street lighting, where mantles lasted until late in the 20th century. Of course, the competition of electricity was realized from the first, since Edison's carbon-filament lamps were already widespread when the mantle was invented. Auer von Welsbach developed metal-filament lamps, patenting the Auer-Oslicht in 1902, which had an osmium filament made with powder metallurgy, in which Auer von Welsbach was a pioneer. This was a very good lamp, more economical than the Edison lamp, and a good deal brighter. It led in a few years to the replacement of the carbon filament with metallic filaments, of osmium, tantalum and finally tungsten.

Waybackmachine source of above quote https://web.archive.org/web/20070629140 ... e.htm#Auer

[72 usmc]

Glass chimneys and (Mica) Micalite shade protectors) are best seen in the old catalogs. These seem to be the most difficult intact parts to find if doing a period restoration of a hard to find gas version of the Snead lamp. I still have not found a picture of the Snead gas lamp that remains complete & intact. It must be as rare as the painted parchment shade. I believe most were thrown out or converted to electric versions over time. I speculate that this version of the Snead Lamp sold the least number of examples.

There is an incredible array of glass shades as well as a few parchment and cloth shades for the many varieties of burners & lights that the Walsbach Company produced. These catalogs demonstrate just how large a company this was and most likely why Snead utilized their parts. Both the Snead Iron Works Co., maker of the Snead lamp, and the Walsbach Co. were located in New Jersey. Hence, the Snead Iron Works had a close supply of lighting parts. Welsbach was a major supplier in there own backyard. Welsback also had a factory in Ohio, they were a major supplier of gas lighting parts at the turn of the century till around WW II. I will provide a PDF link to the cloud for two period references- they are fantastic for viewing the parts.

The first will be the Welsbach 1908-1909 Catalog # 11 that contains 47 pages. Second is a Welsbach Price List 1911- 1912 with detailed pictures on 173 pages of all items offered around 1911. Only the last couple of pages actually have the prices. Most of the pages contain detailed line drawings of the many parts and products for these gas lamps. The Snead Morgan Explosion Lamp utilized Welsbach parts: No. 71 burner, No. 196 cap mantle, No. 013 Air-O-Mantic glass chimney, and the No. 109 Micalite shade protector.


Welsbach Company Manufacturers Of Incandescent Gas Goods see

https://archive.org/search.php?query=cr ... Company%22

The above is the source to the cloud links that follow in the next 2 posts, so if you have an old computer like my 2003 Mac you will not see the catalog in the next posts. I had to use another's computer to provide the catalogs. The above link, if you click on the heading, will provide you a PDF of the Welsbach catalogs to place on your desk top if you wish.


By 1912- 1913 Welsback also offered Electric components. There is a library link to the 1912-13 Welsbach Electric catalogue. The library does not allow forum links so you have to do a a google search and link direct. For some reason it does not work through a forum indirect pasted link. It only works 1 time.
To find it and review the catalog on line.Do a google search. Paste in digital.slv.vic.gov.au/dtl_publish/pdf/marc/47/2036212.html and the catalog will show up.

You can also type in Electric catalogue 1912-13, no. 4/ Welsbach and you will see the bottom info to click on.

Electric catalogue 1912-13, no. 4/ Welsbach.
digital.slv.vic.gov.au/dtl_publish/pdf/marc/47/2036212.html
Author: Welsbach Light Co. of Australasia. - Pages: 60 p. : ill. ; 30 cm. - Publication: [Sydney : Welsbach, Electric Light Section, 1912?] - Description: Cover title. Electric lamps Catalogs. Electric lighting Catalogs of supplies, etc.

This might work: a search will come up and click, VIEW ON LINE it's found over on the right side under links,
http://search.slv.vic.gov.au/primo_libr ... =permalink

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Here's the 1908-1909 Welsbach Catalogue. Approximately 47 pages. For some reason these do not work very fast because of their file size. These do work, but just come up real, real slow. It seems to take as long as 3 min to get them all to load. If you wait 3 min. then you can see the pages on this one. The best way to get these to view is to scroll to the bottom and then let the pages slowly show up- it takes time to down load from the cloud. It takes about as much time to simply down load a PDF onto your desk top from the primary post source. Both links work slow unless you have a super fast computer hook up. On a 2003 Mac I do not even see the link. primary source: https://archive.org/search.php?query=cr ... Company%22

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vj1Chl ... sp=sharing
This link may work better.
https://archive.org/details/WelsbachCom ... ods1908-09

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Here's the Welsbach 1911-1912 Price List with line drawings. This is similar to a catalogue, but much more info on parts & products the company offered. It has 177 pages. This one is really slow to appear, it may take 6-8 min. to get all the pages to show up. Take the scroll bar to the bottom and then let the pages slowly appear. Here is the primary source if you want a direct PDF to place on your desk top: https://archive.org/search.php?query=cr ... Company%22

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Izy1U9 ... sp=sharing

Here is a second link that may work better. It is easier to view on the link and turn pages faster:

Price list 1912-13 Welsbach light
https://archive.org/details/PriceList19 ... sbachLight

[72 usmc]

Here are some photos of an actual Air-O-Matic , Walsbach glass chimney instead of line drawings. They have a maker's mark on them. See the close up view of the maker's mark. A difficult part to obtain.
Photo source is http://www.laurelleaffarm.com/item-page ... 414189.htm

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The trade mark. Photo source is again Laurel leaf farm.

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The Air-O-Mica or Air-O-Matic version has air holes at the base of the the mica or or glass chimney. The normal chimney version does not.

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So ends information on the rare, Snead Gas Lamp version parts.

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Next I think we need some information on the easier to find Snead Oil/kerosene lamp.

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Welsbach offered kerosene burners, but the Snead company did not use their components on the Snead Victory Oil Burning Lamp. The specification sheet indicated a Snead oil burner had the following parts:

..statuary bronze finished brass expander cemented to top of shell with Apollo Duplex Burner[with 2 flat wicks] screwing into same.
4" round Duplex ring and spring wire shade holder.
Glass chimney for Apollo Duplex Burner.
Interior powder cavity of shell serves as oil reservoir to give 7 hours of mild light.

Here is a Welsback oil burner. This was not used by the company for some reason. It is a single wick burner. They preferred the proven Apollo Duplex Burner.

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Here are the instructions:

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The Snead Oil Buring Victory Morgan lamp utilized a double wick, Apollo Duplex Burner like this example:

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The two brass knobs marked "E M & CO Apollo Duplex". The burner assembly takes a chimney 2-1/2 inches at the heel. The burner's thread is 1-7/8 inches or a #3 collar size. Burner height is approximately 2-1/2 inches.
The Apollo Duplex Burner used on the Snead Victory lamp was produced by the Edward Miller Company.
Here is a link to the Edward Miller & Co. Catalog No. 97. This company made and sold the Apollo Duplex Burner. See page 1
This is a library direct link that works fast
https://www.cmog.org/sites/default/file ... E675CE.pdf


An interesting video of an English duplex oil burner and how it works:
https://vimeo.com/112518134

[72 usmc]

There are two Miller Apollo Duplex burners: The English version and the American version.
source http://home.zipworld.com.au/~oil-lamp/B ... -_old.html
A short history of the E. Miller company:
http://www.edwardmillerkeroseneoillamps ... iefhistory

Edward Miller & Company, U.S.A. - A brief History


Edward Miller commenced business in Meriden, Connecticut in the 1840's making and selling camphene and burning fluid burners. By the 1860's, Edward Miller had become an effective manufacturer and marketer in the kerosene lamp business.

In 1845 Edward Miller took over the business of Horatio N. Howard which was then making screws, candle holders, candle stick springs, as well as lamps that burned whale oil and a variety of burning fluids. He faced a number of initial obstacles: poor facilities, lack of raw materials and primitive manufacturing methods. Miller overcame these challenges and eventually moved into better quarters, and introduced steam power into the plant which increased production. Disaster struck in 1857 when fire destroyed the shop, but it was quickly rebuilt and business continued to expand and prosper.

When oil was discovered in 1859, kerosene became a safe and affordable lamp fuel. Miller was quick to seize the initiative seeing the need for burners for the new fuel. In 1866, Miller formed a joint stock company and reorganized under the name of Edward Miller & Co (E M & Co). The manufacturing capacity was immediately increased and in 1868, Miller constructed a brass rolling mill to keep up with his company's demand for brass and to ensure a more consistent quality of product than he could count on from his suppliers. It became a major division of the corporation.

Starting around 1884 through 1892, Edward Miller & Company manufactured the "ROCHESTER" line of lamps for The Rochester Lamp Company which explains their close similarity with his own ‘Miller’ lamps. Edward Miller produced, according to the catalogue, 2000 designs of kerosene lamps, and in every manner – table lamps, hanging store lamps, hanging library lamps, hall lamps, bracket lamps, night lamps, and more. After 1892 Miller lost the contract to manufacture the lamps for The Rochester Lamp Company, whose lamps were then branded "New Rochester" to distinguish them from the former.

Edward Miller then used his knowledge and experience and went into direct competition with the Rochester lamp. Recognising the benefits of the central draught lamp, Miller developed the range of central draught lamps that today are known simply by his name and developed the brand in so many styles that he accommodated all customers both in taste and price.

Edward Miller's first lamp was branded 'The Juno Lamp' and has a wick raiser that closely resembles that of the Rochester. Miller first posted patents for his own wick raising devise in June 1892 which he branded 'The Miller Lamp' and constantly improved on the design of both the wick raising device and burner. It seems at the same time he modified his earlier Juno lamp, simplifying the raiser and enabling a universal wick carriage. In 1895 he further improved 'The Juno Lamp' by incorporating a guide wheel. This patent is by far the most common and was marketed under many brands including 'The Empress Lamp', 'The Mill Lamp', 'The Non Explosive Lamp', and 'The Gaskill Lamp' to name a few. This patent was further refined around 1898 with 'The New Juno Lamp’. In 1900 Miller bought the brand name of 'Meteor' from the meriden Brass Company, which had ceased trading and using his 1892 patent re-modeled 'The Meteor Lamp' - the first and only time his 1892 patent was branded differently to 'Miller'. In 1902 he created 'The New Vestal Lamp', where he finally was able to control the circular wick with a wick winder of similar form to that of flat wick burners. One last change was made to the burner and wick raising method around 1916 - 1920, but not the work of Edward himself as he died in 1909 aged of 82; the company however continued to produce its wares to his high standards and still exists today, although no longer has any resemblance, either in management or production to that of the company that produced kerosene oil lamps.

Never resting on his laurels Edward Miller was always improving his products. He strove for perfection and insisted upon the highest quality for all his products. As the times changed, so did types of illumination. As gas became a viable fuel source for cooking, heating and illumination, the company entered into the manufacture of gas lighting fixtures and stoves. As the age of electricity beckoned, Miller followed the trend, or more appropriately, blazed new trails. He improved upon Edison's carbon filament lamp by designing a tungsten filament lamp.

The Miller Company pioneered mercury vapour and fluorescent lighting systems in the late 1930's as well.1

Miller, at the height of production during the ‘golden age’ of kerosene lighting (1890 – 1900) manufactured for both his own range, and wholesale, selling his brass components to other companies, such as glass manufacturer’s or even production companies who would outsource all of their manufacturing. Miller produced the full range of lamp items, single wick burners, duplex burners, collars etc, the list is endless. Today many of these lamps are mis-identified as ‘Miller’ lamps. Just because a lamp has a ‘Miller’ burner, or ‘Miller’ collar does NOT make it a ‘Miller’ lamp. Only those lamps which bare his brands or name on the fount of the lamp are true ‘Miller’ lamps.

E. Miller Apollo Duplex burner with English Duplex thread. Fitted with extinguisher and removable bayonet glass fitting gallery.

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E. Miller Apollo Duplex burner same as the above English burner but with American threads and fitted with reducer to #2 threads. Notice the base of the American version of the Apollo Duplex burner is smaller than the English threaded version. That is important in selecting the correct Duplex burner for the Snead oil lamp restoration.

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Here are some close up views of the Apollo Duplex burner.

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More photo close up views of the burner:

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Yes they make new reproductions :

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They also sell the quick set cement for the collar. Reproduction Chimneys are easily available, but they do not have the unevenness and air bubble trails in them like a vintage glass. See reproduction chimneys:
https://www.lehmans.com/search?w=oil+lamp+chimneys

Everburning light company:
http://home.zipworld.com.au/~oil-lamp/C ... mneys.html

a nice repro:
http://home.zipworld.com.au/~oil-lamp/D ... uplex.html

[72 usmc]

Some lamp restoration tips & general info:
http://www.milesstair.com/Old_lamp_care.html

I never shine or clean the brass. I like its natural aged patina. It is restoration of a Snead Lamp, not make it like new with reproduction parts and new paint.
http://www.milesstair.com/Beginning_Lam ... ation.html



Antique Lamp Supply - Antique style lighting and lamp parts for repair or restoration since 1952!
And even more reproduction parts here: a great place to shop.
https://www.antiquelampsupply.com/all-oil-lamp-parts

Their oil lamps parts guide has some nice info:
https://www.antiquelampsupply.com/oil-lamp-parts-guide


So ends the Snead oil lamp parts. Previous known examples of a Snead and a trench art oil lamp are shown on page 3 & 4. Now we need some pictures of original lamps in pristine condition to see what the shades looked like and some of the original parts.

[72 usmc]

Another electric, Morgan explosion, Snead lamp that has been modified and is incorrectly restored. Pictures as seen just recently on flee bay.
Asking price is nuts at $300+
The pull chain, harp, finial, cord, socket all so wrong... but it has a nice brass base and nice condition to the shell. I wonder if the tag is still present? It has great patina , an example worthy of correct restoration if it was priced at 125 bucks.

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