TeriAnn's Guide to Aladdin and other brands of kerosene Mantle Lamps

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Aladdin Lamp oil pots (1908 to 1934)

three Aladdin lamp oil pots
Model 4, 12 and B oil pots

What are oil pots?

Oil pots are complete lamps that are intended to be inserts into a lamp body.

During the late 1800's and early 1900's there was a large industry of companies making decorative hanging, table and floor lamp bodies that used standard size oil pots to provide the lighting. All the "gone with the wind" style glass lamps used oil pots to hold the kerosene. This allowed for many fanciful designs without worry of being kerosene tight or for oil refilling. The industry standard oil pot was 5 inches in diameter below the top rim, and 3/1/2 inches deep when measured from the bottom of the rim to the pot bottom. The pot sat inside it's space and rested upon the pot's top rim. Glass lamps usually had brass inserts that also supported the bottom of the oil pot to spread the weight over a larger area. At the least there was a metal rim upon which the rim of the oil pot rested.

Making lamps that accepted oil pots was an inexpensive industry to get started in so there were a number of fly by night oil pot holder lamp companies with names no one recognizes today. A lot of antique dealers have ended up paying premium prices for hybrid non Aladdin lamps that have an Aladdin oil pot installed thinking that they were rare Aladdin lamps.

Aladdin oil pots

Aladdin model 4 oil pot
model 4 oil pot

Model 1 through 6:

Aladdin was in the oil pot market starting with the model 1. The same design oil pot as used from model 1 through model 6 with differences in burner thread and flame spreader rest in the inner wick tube. I believe the tooling used was generic Plume & Atwood.

During 1915 and 1916 Aladdin offered a pole type table lamp in JAP bronze finish that used the model 6 oil pot. Otherwise Aladdin oil pots were offered purely for the aftermarket oil pot lamp business and for customer upgrades to existing oil pot lamps that they owned.

Aladdin early oil pot Early Aladdin oil pot

Models 7 through 11:

No oil pot lamps were offered by Aladdin.

 

Model 12:

Aladdin model 12 oil pot
Model 12 oil pot

 

The model 12 oil pot was offered as both a stand along product for the oil pot market and for use on Aladdin lamps.

Aladdin vase lamps (1930 - 1935) used the model 12 oil pot as did the 1252 & 1253 pole type floor lamps (1930 - 1932).

Aladdin model 12 oil pot side Aladdin Model 12 oil pot bottom

Aladdin UK added feet to the model 12 oil pot then nickel plated it to create a shelf lamp version that was offered for sale into the French market.

Model 14:

Aladdin model 14 oil pot

The Crown Devon lamp was orderable with either a model 12 or model 14 oil pot.

The model 14 oil pot used a model 12 oil pot font without a centre draft tube.  At this time I am uncertain as to whether or not the model 14 oil pot was offered as a stand alone product to upgrade other brands of lamps that take an oil pot.

Aladdin model 14 oil pot

 

Model B:

Aladdin model B oil pot
#1221B model B oil pot

The Aladdin model B oil pot was the very first model B metal lamp. It was offered as a stand alone product in 1934 and possibly 1933. Catalogue number 1221S had a satin brass finish and 1221B had an oxidized bronze finish.

Even though the model B oil pot as offered as a stand alone product, it had a larger than industry standard diameter and probably did not sell.

This oil pot was used in the following versions of model B table lamp during 1933 and 1934: 1254, 1255, 1256, 1257 and 1258. These are all pole lamps with a cup at the top for accepting the oil pot. The cups on all these lamps are cylindrical with a squared off bottom edge. All later model B table lamps had top cups with rounded bottoms.

The 1221 was the last of the Aladdin oil pots. Later lamps used either font lamps or the bowl part of table lamps.

Aladdim Model B oil pot top Aladdin model B oil pot bottom

1935 and later:

Model B lamp
bowl from #B-132 table lamp

Starting in 1935 floor lamps used the bowl from a B-132 oriental table lamp as an oil pot instead of a special oil pot font. This bowl design has a top ridge in the oil pot tradition, but the rounded bottom allowed for rounded curves at the bottom of the lamp support cup

I do not have complete data, but I believe the bowl from a B-132 table lamp was used in all 1935 and 1936 floor lamps. The one pictures to the left came out of a 1936 B-272 lamp.

I believe all 1937 and later model B floor lamps used the current model B metal font lamp. But once again I have not seen every model and can not verify this for certain.

1951 was the last year of Aladdin floor lamp production.

Model 23:

Starting in 1989, the bowl from the model 23 table lamp started being used as an oil pot in the D-2301 Majestic table lamp.

 

 

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