The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

larryh wrote:

Henry wrote:Well, I consider something "pricey" when it used to cost c.$3 each and is now $11.95, but I guess that's the German in me coming out! And how I wish Coleman mantles would work on the Aladdins, since the Colemans cost a lot less. Even the mantles for the Humphrey propane gas lights are inexpensive by comparison. At least my 1950 Servel propane refrigerator doesn't use mantles!

Henry I have had all kinds of servels over the years and most oil models made the past 60 years.. Currently I have been using a 1946 servel which after some adjusting and cleaning works like a charm. I was always fascinated by refrigerators that worked without electrical power. I remember when I first started to buy kerosene in the late 50s it cost 13 cents a gallon. Now is is running 5.00 a gal here. I still use a pot burner oil heater to keep the kitchen and rear room warmer in winter but had to give in to propane for the main section of the home.

If anyone is interested in literature and photos of oil heaters, cooking stoves, refrigerators, incubators, pot burner home heaters, (Siegler, Duo Therm, Coleman, ect.) I have a yahoo group devoted to them, lots of information.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Ker ... ector/info

Larry

Larry, that's a very nice lamp stand and shade that you made---and unique! I also like your appliances. In re: Servel, I have been noticing how often I see them as props in movies of the 1940s, especially the B&W film noir ones, and also other movies from that era as well. Keep your eyes open and see whether you spot them, too. They all look pretty much like your 1946 model pictured, which doesn't differ markedly in design from my 1950 BN600-series model, and they all have some form of the familiar Servel logo on the door.

As for getting cold from heat, the system is called "gas adsorption," and relies on a refrigerant, in this case ammonia + water + hydrogen, circulating in a closed system through a condenser/evaporator cycle. The basic principle is that gas cools as it expands, and a liquid cools when it evaporates. A heat source is necessary to keep the refrigerant circulating, and this source may be either gas, kerosene, or electricity. (Dual-heat-source gas/electric fridges are made today for use in RVs and in other off-the-grid, non-electric applications.) The whole process is too complicated for me to describe here, but you could google it up!

By the way my recently acquired no 12 that spawned this thread seems to burn much hotter than my model B. The wick raiser knob and whole lamp is quite hotter. Works great though. Any advice???

Valecnik wrote:By the way my recently acquired no 12 that spawned this thread seems to burn much hotter than my model B. The wick raiser knob and whole lamp is quite hotter. Works great though. Any advice???

I suspect the later burners have an improved design to draw more air and burn hotter and and brighter.

I have been interested in the Aladdins for about 40 years. I currently own half a dozen One of my favorites is a Corinthian with black base and white font.

I also collect Coleman indoor vapor lamps, but I will not burn those indoors like the Aladdins -- too risky.

OMG it really is a sickness. Here's a few of mine.

Valecnik wrote:

clevelander wrote:There must be some faulty gene to be a phonograph/gramophone collector.
I am in the UK and I,too, have Aladdin lamps as well as a fully functioning mains gas lighting system.
I am sure a phychiatrist would have a field-day!

Me thinks several pictures are in order!

I am away at my son's for a few days. If this thread is still going when I get back, I will oblige!.

Well, first of all, these lamps do make a nice atmosphere for our period phonographs. I have two oil lamps, a nice brass double-wick one with a red cased-glass shade made in England I bought in Europe in the early 70s, but the one dearest to me is a very plain and ordinary clear glass one. Its shade is replaced (probably many times), but the base remains from the lamp that was on my great grandmother's kitchen table when she and my great grandfather first set up housekeeping together in 1891.

Clay

clevelander wrote:There must be some faulty gene to be a phonograph/gramophone collector.
I am in the UK and I,too, have Aladdin lamps as well as a fully functioning mains gas lighting system.
I am sure a phychiatrist would have a field-day!

Yep, when I lived in a 1896 home in St Louis I had the gas lighting all restored, it was quite a hit on house tours. I loved it. I had also had a couple of the newer Paulin lamps, (X humphrey) lights put in my moms new home about 10 years ago when she built it in case of storms or power failures. We haven't had to use them too much but during one long ice storm that cut power for most of two days the lights came in quite handy.. Along with the duo therm oil heater I put on the kitchen flu that I had thought I might put a wood range on if I lived there. I had those too for probably 30 years.

Larry

Here's my 'electrolier' in the living room -- combination gas light (top) and electric (lower). The electric socket is original to the fixture and is fitted with an original "GEM" (GE Metalized) double loop carbon filament bulb ca. 1910 that has been lit every night for close to 4 years now. Still going strong.

The gas light is, sadly, not running on gas. I sure wish I had real gas lines. It had been converted to a modern socket and looked like hell. I replaced it with a small candelabra socket enclosed in a brass tube with check rings top and bottom. A bit bigger than original but it looks very close. I mounted an original Welsbach gas burner to it, with chimney and bracket for a mantle. The mantle is faux, made several years ago for precisely this type of application -- simulated gaslight. (They're out of production now.) It has a special, very small diameter 30w incandescent bulb hidden inside but when it's lit even people who are well familiar with gas and kerosene lights can't tell it's not really gas. With the original fixture, chimney, and mantle it looks shockingly real.

Not much help in power outages, however. But for that I have my Aladdin.

The real sad part about these lamps and any oil lamps is the market has just dropped. Because the ALco. is part of my families history....I will always like them. Just as my parents did in the 60's & 70's.
But now....it's different. Unless the lamp is a rare model or variation.....not a lot of $$$

Valecnik wrote:
Somehow the concept of a gas powered refrigerator seems so bizarre. Hope our moderator notices this thread. He's a big fan of early appliances.

Oh, I have! I don't have any oil lamps, but appliances I do have. Speaking of gas refrigerators, the vintage travel trailer I'm working on restoring right now has a refrigerator that runs on 12V, 110V, AND propane!