Peg Oil Lamps   SOLD OUT!

Photo	Item #	Name	Desc.	Price USD
	PL01	Peg Oil Lamp	clear glass	$14.95 ea.

*Shipping charges also apply.  Texas Residents must add 8.25% Sales Tax.  

See our Ordering Page for more info.     We are pleased to announce that as of May 7, 2005 we now have Peg Oil Lamps available!

Product Information -

  Here is a product that is not often seen today.  But Peg Lamps have been around for a very long time, and they are unique in their own way.

One of the earliest industries in America was glass blowing, which began back in the 1600's.  They made wine and liquor bottles, pitchers, drinking glasses, plates, platters, and a number of other necessary items that were used in their day to day living.  One item they made quite a number of was candleholders.  Every household needed several candleholders, because everyone used candles as a means of lighting their homes and businesses.  They were almost indispensable.

People were constantly trying to come up with new ideas to improve their lighting, either by making the light brighter or whiter, and reducing the amount of smoke that was given off.  Slowly, different types of liquid fuel were tried.  Grease was burned in grease lamps, but if gave off strong odors and poor light, as well as smoke.  Whale oil, and fish oil gave off a yellowish light, along with strong odors, and smoke.  The same can be said for bear oil.  Alcohol could be distilled and it gave off a white light, but would evaporate easily, and was fairly expensive.  Finally a mixture of alcohol and turpentine was tried, which gave off a brighter, whiter, light.  But it evaporated easily, and gave off fumes that were highly explosive.  A number of people were killed or burned, and a number of homes were burned down, because the "Burning Fluid' as it was named, would accumulate explosive fumes in the top of the lamp font and suddenly explode.  These problems led directly to the development of better and safer, screw-in lamp burners, and better shaped lamps, that did not trap as much of the deadly fumes.

As lamp making grew more specialized, new methods of making lamps and candleholders were developed.  Molds were made so parts could be made more uniformly and quicker, instead of everything being made 'freehand'.  Lamp makers began producing lamp bases of various shapes and colors.  The lamp 'Fonts' were also produced in various shapes and colors of glass.  The font is the globular part of the lamp that holds the lamp fluid, upon which the burner rests.  They would stockpile these parts, and then a customer could pick out a shape, and color, of the base they wanted, along with the shape and color of the type font that they wanted.  Then the lamp maker would reheat the glass parts and fuse them together with a glass disk or wafer, producing a more or less custom made lamp.

It didn't take long, before some enterprising lamp maker realized that he could produce a cheaper lamp, by simply producing a font, with a peg on it, so it could simply be inserted into a candle holder to use for the base.  Afterall, 'everyone' already had candleholders.  Often the candleholder base was used to hold candles for everyday use.  And the oild font would be used only on special occasions.

Today as in the past, Peg Lamps, are handy for camping, going to rendezvous since they break down into four parts -the chimney, the burner, the font, and the base.  They can be safely packed away inside a coffee pot or cast iron pot for traveling.

ATTENTION DEALERS  -  For wholesale price quotes, send us a copy of your letterhead and a signed copy of your Tax Resale Certificate, or Non-Profit Organization Exemption.

- Malcom L. Johnson

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