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Aladdin Lamp oil pots (1908
to 1934)
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
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.
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Models 7 through 11:
No oil pot lamps were offered by Aladdin.
Model 12:
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).
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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:
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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. |
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Model B:
#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. |
1935 and later:
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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