Antique Street Light/Lantern

[countryford]

We have had this antique street lantern for several years. It was given to us, by someone who bought a house, and it was in the backyard. We couldn't decide where to install it, and so it sat for a couple of years. Finally we decided on a place in the back yard, and so we started restoring it. It was originally gas, but someone at some point had converted it to electric. While cleaning it, we found a date stamped on it of 1899. Today we finally got it all done and installed. Electricity hooked up. The glass is in good shape with the exception of the top white glass has a crack in it, but it still is holding together. Can't wait till tonight to see it all lit up.
I did some research on it and found that Main Street of Disneyland has the same street lamps, but I beleive theirs is still gas.

 

[countryford]

Here is another picture with more of the pole showing. The pole that it had when we got it, was pretty well shot. It was also a 3 inch pole. We went to several places and couldn't find a 3 inch. I think the largest we could get was 2 1/2 inch. We made it work though. Also in the original pole, it still had the original gas line in it.

With it up, it reminds me of the song, The Old Lamplighter by The Browns.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Nice looking & brings back memories

We sold a similar style gas post lantern at Rich's in the 70s. We replaced the original 4 sided lantern with that one and had it out in front for years before the gas got too expensive.

Enjoy!

 

[whirlcool]

The city of Riverside, IL has these lanterns all over town and are still gas fueled.
The are used as street lights. They are nearly identical to your lantern, but instead of having a narrow pole such as yours they are mounted on much thicker metal poles.

Here is a photo of one if them installed. There must be hundreds of them installed all over the city and they all still run on gas. In the wintertime with the snow on the ground at night they are very romantic.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I remember an ice storm when our gas lantern was the only light on at night. It was not quite bright enough to read in the living room, but at least you could see to walk through it with the light reflected off all of the sleet covering everything outside. We had the fireplace to keep the family room warm and the gas water heater, but that was it.

 

[arbilab]

Gas yard lamps were very fashionable in the 1960s.

 

[d-jones]

Allen

That information about Riverside Illinois is fascinating. I love it when entire communities hang on to some of the more charming aspects of the past. Modern street lighting is very often austere to the point of hostility. There's quite literally nothing friendly, inviting, or even human about it. They're functional and that's it. Whereas the vintage lamp posts that survive in my parents neighborhood here in L.A. still display a very strong sense of stately elegance despite years of neglect. Industrial designers have a simple saying, "form follows function." But most will admit that there are limits to this idea that must be imposed in the name of aesthetics. Unfortunately in the modern age, concerns about cost frequently override any concerns about beauty, and many things are just a bit uglier for it.

 

And Justin - congratulations on finding yourself in possession of such an attractive relic of a bygone era. If you ever move I sincerely hope you'll take it with you. Like a few others here, I'd like to see it lit up. And just out of curiosity, would a lamp like this have used fabric mantles like a Colman lantern?

[this post was last edited: 4/14/2013-23:50]

 

[countryford]

I am unsure as to what it would have used originally. When I got it, it had already been converted over to electricity and therefore the majority of the gas components were already gone.
If I ever do move, I am going to keep it.
Here is a picture I took of it tonight all lit up.

 

[d-jones]

It looks like anyone with a spare $500.00 to spend (plus shipping) can have one of these lamps as well. I'd say Justin did  pretty well getting his free. It looks fantastic lit up, by the way.

 

Here's a link to an eBay listing.

 

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[kimball455]

In the center of Cape May which is the oldest section we have these as street lights. Great when the power goes off.
Harry

 

[countryford]

I had seen that lot of them on ebay. If I had $500 lying around, I'd go and buy one. Either keep the parts or install another one. Would be nice if I had one still running on gas.

 

[whirlcool]

Gas yard lamps were very fashionable in the 1960s.

And they are still popular today. We installed one when we moved in this house about 10 years ago. The only maintenance needed is to take the glass out and wash it once every quarter and replace the mantles when the lawn man gets too wild with the weed wacker on the base. Since we warned him about this, the current set of mantles have lasted 2.5 years so far. Replacement mantles are about $10.00 for a set of two.

Just after we installed the lamp we had a power failure. The people across the street wanted to know why our lamp is staying on when we have a power failure. We said it's because it's gas powered. They wanted to know where we put the gas tank that supplies the lantern.

At my parents house they had a gas lamp they must have put in around 1960 or so. The light from the lamp was a kinda white/yellow colored. But down here, our light burns with a greenish white color. The company we bought the lamp from says it's because our gas down here has a lot of copper in it.

While these lamps are still very popular, you still see a lot of houses with them that have fallen out of use.

 

[westingman123]

I love gaslight!

It seems like every house in the my parent's neighborhood had them. We had TWO, one in the front and one in the back.

Those bigger ones remind me of the Gaslight Square lamps.

Way cool.

 

[whirlcool]

Here is a little bit of info about how Riverside, IL maintains them. They have 400 active units.

http://www.riverside.il.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={90D5187E-F483-4EF4-9C58-1F03FC840ECD}