Contents > Bug/
Insect screens
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Bug / Insect Screens Insect screens cover the top of the chimney and protect the mantle from damage by flying insects that are attracted to light or flies when the lamp is not lit. The earliest reference I have found for the bug screen is in a September 1916 wholesale price listing. This implies that the bug screen was introduced during the last year the model 6 lamp was offered for sale in the US (undated, uninsulated burner). There were at least 2 versions of the bug screen, one with vertical slots in the bottom ring and one without. The one with slots (shown here) seems to be the later version.
The insect screen with the downward pointing fingers appears to have been introduced in 1928 along with the model 12 lamps. This insect screen appears on the 1944 price list but not the 1945 price list, implying that production was ceased to conserve brass for the war effort during late 1944 & 1945. Actual production might have stopped earlier during the war and they may have just had an already built stock to sell during the war.
The date of the name change from bug screen to insect screen seems to depend upon what source you are researching. The newest wholesale price list I have that says "bug screen" is 1949. All previous wholesale price lists I have before then use the term "bug screen" (possibly because it fits the form line better?). The retail "Aladdin Supplies and Extra parts" price list calls them bug screens on the 1943 list and insect screen on the 1944 list. It is likely that the screens were always labeled and sold as insect screens for the UK market as that they were listed as insect screens in a 1935 UK price list and "bug" may not readily translate from American to UK English. The new old stock screen above was most likely packaged for sale into the UK market.
Aladdin Australia offered the American Bug screen (Likely package labeled as insect screen) until 1926 when they introduced their own smaller bug screen that used a wire mesh for a screen. This bug screen was sold into the Australian market until it was replaced by the New style insect screen around 1950.
In 1949 a number of changes were made in the Aladdin lamp product lineup. One was the introduction of a new insect screen. This new insect screen used a wire mesh much like the earlier Australian version. The new version is wider and has internal fingers that allows it to fit chimneys with with greater variance in top diameter.
This new style insect screen was introduced the same time as the Nashville model 12 and B burners. The screen can handle the high temperatures better than the earlier versions and is not prone to having the mesh burn away at the top centre. This style was discontinued at the end of 2017, so is correct for Nashville model B lamps through early MAXbrite 500 lamp production. The screen in the picture above was manufactured in the UK. They may never have been made in the US.
REPRODUCTION - During 2003 B&P Lamp Supply started reproducing the insect screen with the finger clamps that are very similar to the new Aladdin insect screen shown above. These reproductions are stamped with the B&P name.
At the beginning of 2018 Aladdin combined their insect screen product and their smoke bell to produce a combined insect screen and smoke bell that slides onto the top of the chimney. This increases the safety factor for people who place table or shelf lamps higher up on a shelf. The label on the side reads"REQUIRES 24" CLEARANCE TO COMBUSTABLES" This of course makes 24" (2 feet) the closest distance from the top of the smoke bell to a ceiling.. For those of you who like to match lamps up with accessories that were available when the lamp was new, here is a chart with my best guess:
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