Post by jimmarsh on Aug 19, 2007 13:50:59 GMT -5
Good morning all . . or at least it is where I live!
For any forum members interested in flame safety lamps, I’ve just uploaded my small collection to Photobucket, with URLs to access the individual pictures. The first two pictures are of the four examples in my collection. There are two Protector lamps, a promotional official’s size lamp converted to a table cigarette lighter by E. Thomas & Williams, and a miniature lamp roughly three inches tall which was a promotional item from Mining Supplies. Clicking on the URL links will take you to the photographs.
The first two shots show the collection:
Now to the individual lamps:
This lamp was presented to me on my first trip back to England in 1970, by former workmates of the electrical shop at Swanwick Colliery. I emigrated to Canada in 1960 and the mine closed in 1966. My guess is that the lamp is now between eighty and one hundred years old, as it had seen lots of service when the mine closed. The battered nameplate bears witness to this:
Next is a brand new, never been down a mine, Protector:
This lamp was given to me as a sales sample, upon the occasion of a visit to the Protector factory in Eccles, Manchester, in 1975. Close examination will reveal the striker key attached to the hook. Going into that factory was like stepping back a hundred years in time. The floors were made of oak beams and there was a well worn path down the centre of walkways where countless feet over the years had worn into the dirty and oil-stained wood. Employees either stood or sat on stools at workbenches, hand assembling the lamps under incandescent light. The lucky ones had light from a window. What a dreary place it was. Here’s the nameplate of the new Protector:
Next is a promotional item from the Welsh lamp manufacturer, E. Thomas & Williams of Aberdare. They had taken the body of a regulation officials’ size lamp and fitted a Ronson lighter into the top to make a table lighter. Here’s the lamp/lighter:
. . and the nameplate:
Lastly, a promotional item from Mining Supplies Ltd., who I think were headquartered in Doncaster. A former fitter at Swanwick and good friend, Sid Radford, who went to work for Mining Supplies a few years before Swanwick closed, gave me this miniature. It is roughly three inches tall and has “Sir Humphry Davy, 1778-1829” inscribed on the plate. I’m not sure about the spelling of the name, but that’s what’s on it.
Cheers,
Jim Marsh
Vancouver
Canada
For any forum members interested in flame safety lamps, I’ve just uploaded my small collection to Photobucket, with URLs to access the individual pictures. The first two pictures are of the four examples in my collection. There are two Protector lamps, a promotional official’s size lamp converted to a table cigarette lighter by E. Thomas & Williams, and a miniature lamp roughly three inches tall which was a promotional item from Mining Supplies. Clicking on the URL links will take you to the photographs.
The first two shots show the collection:
Now to the individual lamps:
This lamp was presented to me on my first trip back to England in 1970, by former workmates of the electrical shop at Swanwick Colliery. I emigrated to Canada in 1960 and the mine closed in 1966. My guess is that the lamp is now between eighty and one hundred years old, as it had seen lots of service when the mine closed. The battered nameplate bears witness to this:
Next is a brand new, never been down a mine, Protector:
This lamp was given to me as a sales sample, upon the occasion of a visit to the Protector factory in Eccles, Manchester, in 1975. Close examination will reveal the striker key attached to the hook. Going into that factory was like stepping back a hundred years in time. The floors were made of oak beams and there was a well worn path down the centre of walkways where countless feet over the years had worn into the dirty and oil-stained wood. Employees either stood or sat on stools at workbenches, hand assembling the lamps under incandescent light. The lucky ones had light from a window. What a dreary place it was. Here’s the nameplate of the new Protector:
Next is a promotional item from the Welsh lamp manufacturer, E. Thomas & Williams of Aberdare. They had taken the body of a regulation officials’ size lamp and fitted a Ronson lighter into the top to make a table lighter. Here’s the lamp/lighter:
. . and the nameplate:
Lastly, a promotional item from Mining Supplies Ltd., who I think were headquartered in Doncaster. A former fitter at Swanwick and good friend, Sid Radford, who went to work for Mining Supplies a few years before Swanwick closed, gave me this miniature. It is roughly three inches tall and has “Sir Humphry Davy, 1778-1829” inscribed on the plate. I’m not sure about the spelling of the name, but that’s what’s on it.
Cheers,
Jim Marsh
Vancouver
Canada
