Our friend Ara Kebapcioglu (M.Ara) has prepared a three languge (French, German and English) Glossary directly relating lamp terms from one language to another. The list is easily alphabetized in each language. ARA'S GLOSSARY
Mon ami, magnifique!

Please also note that Dan Edminster has a fine Lamp Terms Dictionary, (many items with images) attached to "The Lampworks", his commercial page. (See the LINKS page)

In response to a request from Australia, the following is a first attempt to produce a dictionary of lamp terms that could be useful to both beginners and experienced lampers. What appears here is nowhere near complete; The Secretary solicits all kinds of input to add to or correct this list. The Guild welcomes other Web sites devoted to lamps to copy this page for their own use, if they wish, with only acknowledgement of the source as credit. A copy of the file can be sent via E-mail in HTML format to any club that wishes to post it. It is hoped this dictionary will grow in size and completeness as more groups and individual collectors participate! The Guild would like this to be the very first "ALL the lamp clubs together" project!

Acetylene Lamp:

A lamp fueled by adding dry carbide pellets to water, generating acetylene gas which is then burned as fuel. Produces a brilliant white light. There were several acetylene table lamps produced in the US (Solar, Beck-Iden), and the indication of several "hollow wire home lighting systems using acetylene, but they didn't seem to achieve much commercial success. They were however, quite common in portable form as bicycle, automobile and Miners lamps.

Air distributor:

Any device that modifies the flow of air into and/or around the flame of a lamp. Today, it is used synonymously with "flame spreader", but this is not completely correct, as there are many other parts of the burner that are in fact "air distributors."

Angle Lamp:

Lamps produced by the Angle Manufacturing Co. that feature a modified Miller hinge burner mounted on the SIDE of a font, and drafted with a globe-like "elbow" and a tall chimney-like "top". This arrangement allowed two to three times the light produced by a normally vertically mounted burner. The Company's motto was "No Undershadow". Angle Lamps are noted for the sometime spectacular glass "tops", and beautifully etched "elbows".

Arc Lamp:

A hanging pressure lamp (and later, street lamp) of early vintage, like the "Efficient", "Coleman" or M&M. The pressure tank was below the burners. In modern usage, an arc lamp is an electric device where the light is created from an electric arc between two charged poles, rather than by using an incandescent filament.

Argand lamp

Although the "Argand burner" represents a rather specific series of inventions and improvements, today all round wick central draft lamps are generally referred to as "Argand Burners". Thus the lowly RAYO has some dignity, at least in its heritage!

Banquet Lamp:

A kerosene (and before that, heavy oil lamps like Solars, and also sometimes gas) lamp designed for lighting a dinner table. Generally with a tall stem and (originally) a globe that was of cut or etched clear glass to let as much light as possible reach the table, without any glare in the diner’s eyes. Decorative prisms were a common accessory.

"Betty" lamp

An early (likely US developed) fat or grease-burning lamp distingiushed from the earlier "crusie" by an internal wick support. Bettys are usually covered. The name is thought to derive from the word "better".

Binnacle Lamp/Ship Lamp:

A kerosene or ofter heavier petroleum fueled lamp intended for transportation use. Features a gymballed mounting (wall or ceiling suspension) that permitted the 'lamp' to pivot with the motion of a ship, keeping the heavy burner portion, foint and shade relatively stable. Railroad car lamps also fall in this category.

Bracket Lamp:

A wall-mounted lamp where the font is supported by an often cast iron arm attached to the wall by a back-plate that allows the lamp fixture to pivot from side to side. A coomon attachment to these lamps is the mercury-vapor coated glass reflector, or less expensively, a polished tinned metal reflector. <

"Brevete (or Bte) SGDG"

Marking found on lamps sold in France.Means "Patented, without guarantee of Giovernment". The device is the first of its kind, but is NOT guaranteed to work, nor is it necessarily made in France.

Bulls-eye Lantern

Also known as a Boat-Lantern, Signal, Policeman's or Picket-Lamp. It has a large blob like lense protruding out from a small cylintrical tin body. Foldable wire handles and sometimes a belt clip were attached to the rear. The top was surmounted with one or sometimes two round fluted chimneys. This lantern was frequently known as a "Flash-Light", since it supported an inside-the-barrel movable metal shield to obscure the beam of light when desired. It was constructed to use either candles or a fuel pot depending on its intended service.

Bunsen Flame:

The intense light blue flame produced through almost complete combustion of liquid or gaseous fuel. Examples: the "Bunsen burner" from your old chem lab courses, or the blue gas flame on a cooking stove. The Bunsen flame is required to produce the heat needed to cause an Incandescent mantle to glow.

Burner

The 'business' part of a lamp; that part that actually contains the drafting mechanisn, and the point of combustion where the fuel is converted to light.

Burning Fluid

A Nineteenth century (pre-Kerosene era!) originally patented mixture of alcohol, turpentine and other low viscosity and highly volatile combustables designed as an inexpensive substitute for whale oil. There were many Patents issued for commercial products; it was the home-made 'burning fluids' that gave the concept the reputation of "burning down more houses than it illuminated." A burning fluid lamp is distinguished from a whale oil one (the FONTS may be identical!) by the burner design. A burning fluid burner has one or more tubes (as many as six) holding the wick(s), with almost none of the tube protruding inside the font, and as much as two inches of tube sticking up outside the burner. Multiple tube burners always had the tops of the tubes slanting away from each other. This was to minimize the amount of heat transfered from the flame to the liquid itself by the wick tube, as the fuel was so volatile that it could spontaneously explode if heated. Burning fluid was quickly and completely replaced in a short period of time by the introduction of mass-produced kerosene or 'coal oil.'

Button:

A sort of generic term for Flame Spreader; its use alone should probably be avoided, as it is general enough to promote confusion. When modified by "the Liverpool" button, it is correct.

CAD:

Central Air draft; UK term for "center draft."

Camphene:

In popular 19th C usage, another name for 'burning fluid.' Actually a higher distilled turpentine product, advertised as a "safe alternative for burning fluid".

Carbide Lamp:

Common name for the "Miners lamp", Bicycle or automobile light fueled with acetylene gas made in the lamp from water added to carbide.

Carcel Lamp:

The earliest (French, in 1798) 'mechanical' lamp, featuring a clockwork pump and rods that forced the heavy oil fuel to the point of combustion. Mostly European in origin.

Chimney:

The (usually) glass tube designed to shape the air flow around the combustion zone of a lamp that uses flame (either "open" or Bunsen) to produce either light or the heat that produces it. A chimney is attached to the burner "gallery" in a variety of manners. "Chimney" is distinct from "shade", or "globe"; although is does serve some of the same protective purposes as these generally EXTERNAL items, its primary purpose is air draft control.

Coal Oil:

An early term, still in use well into the 20th century, for 'Kerosene.' The fuel was originally dry-distilled from coal-like tars, soft coal or tar "seeps"; thus the name.

Colza:

A vegetable oil pressed from the Rape seed, and refined as a lamp fuel. Stays liquid at almost all normal temperatures. Replacement fuel today is "Mineral Oil", your Grandma’s favorite laxative, or olive oil.

Cresset:

Essentially a basket, suspended or self-supporting, with a skeletal framework to hold burning chunks of wood or pine knots. Probably midieval in origin; about the crudest of historical-era lighting devices, next to the torch.

Crusie lamp:

An early fat or grease-burning lamp distinguished from the earlier "pan lamp" by the pinched wick support or supports (as many as 4) that is/are part of the external shell of the lamp. Generally oval in shape, shallow (but deeper than the "pan" lamp) and oftern of forged iron, although tin crusies are common. Later Crusies are sometimes lidded. The origin of the name is lost, although it is thought to be of Scottish origin.

Draft tube:

In center draft lamps, the tube, generally INSIDE the wick, that conducts the air into the burning zone through the flame spreader/air distributor. Note that "SIDE draft" lamps also have this part, but it does not extend through the font!

Inner Draft tube: the portion of the center draft conductor INTERNAL to the round wick.

Outer Draft tube: the portion of the center draft conductor EXTERNAL to the wick.

Duplex:

Originally a Hinks (UK) Patent for two flat wicks placed in close proximity to maximize the light output. It is said "Two wicks are three times better than one, but three wicks are not as good as two."

Extender:

Generally a mechanical device, often spring-loaded and concealed in a decorative cup below the lamp suspension hook, for pulling a lamp downwards from the ceiling, having it hold at the desired level (for lighting, filling, extinguishing), and then be returned to its "normal" burning location. Older types relied on weights, later ones had spring loaded cable systems concealed in a long stem.

Fat Lamp:

Generic description of a lamp burning animal fats, rendered lard or grease as fuel.

Fitter:

The dimension of something that fits into something else, like the bottom diameter of a chimney that fits into a gallery, or the bottom diameter of a burner base that fits into a collar.

Flame Spreader:

See "Air Distributor" above

Flat wick:

The "normal" wick design; a "narrow woven fabric" designed to conduct fuel from the font/fount to the point of combustion.

Flat wick formed round [FW(R)]:

A single, or multiple flat wick that is shaped into a round wick before the point of combustion by the inner and outer wick tubes on SIDE DRAFT burners like the Kosmos. It is a way of having the advantages of a round wick without requiring a CENTRAL Draft lamp. Many replacement burners, sold to replace burners like the Duplex or other flat wicks, used this system.

Font/Fount:

The portion of the lamp that holds the fuel in any liquid fueled lamp. Can be gravity feed, pressurized, or just a fuel "bottle" or can with a burner attached...the fuel tank of a LIQUID fueled lamp.

Gallery:

The portion of the burner used to attach the chimney. It may use "prongs" or a "crown", or it may have attachment points for screws. In US gas lighting, the entire burner assembly was called the "gallery."

Gas:

In lamps, a very inexact term! US "gas" is either gasoline for cars, or a vaporous fuel product like propane or "natural gas." In the UK, "gas" is likely to be "City gas" delivered through the "mains." As this IS a matter of some confusion, let us reserve the use of the word GAS to mean ONLY the vaporous form of the fuel, including propane, natural or manufactured gas, and try to add the particular FORM of gas to the description (as "propane gas lantern" or "city gas lamp".) The term should be used to distinguish fuel sold or delivered in a vapor form (even if liquefied!), as opposed to normally "liquid fuel". As ALL lamps actually burn the fuel as a "gas", we need to be MUCH more specific if we are to be correct, and universally understandable! [There, Dr. Tilley...does THAT make the distinction?]

Gas gallery:

In US "city" gas or hollow wire lighting, the entire burner (less mantle and glass accouterments) was called a "gallery."

Globe:

The external protective glass piece used in lanterns, gas lighting and early kerosene lamps, that protected the mantles from damage, shielded the glare of the light, and added (in lanterns) some draft control. The globe also functions as a wind screen, to keep drafts, etc. from distorting the flame. The name comes from the most commonly found shape. In "Gone with the Wind" and other Victorian lamps, the "globe" was generally purely decorative, and frequently was the first piece broken!

Gone with the Wind lamp:

A BAD misnomer! The lamps so called (a decorated globe atop a glass font holder, generally decorated as a matching set) were originally (and properly) called Parlor Lamps. When Cecil B. DeMille filmed the famous movie, he decorated the sets with these lamps that were not actually made for decades after the Civil War period of the story setting. We are stuck with the name!

Hall lamp:

A hanging lamp with generally a small and efficient burner designed to shed just enough light to see one’s way up stairs, or through a dark internal hallway. In the Victorian period, the use of cranberry, pigeons blood or even "art glass" globes was common for these decorative lamps.

Hanging Lamp/Harp Lamp:

A fairly obvious description; covers the whole range of suspended lamps (store lamp, hall lamp, library lamp, candleer.) "Harp" lamp is often found in catalogues; "harp" refers to the frame the font hangs in that also supports the shade.

Heavy Oil:

Early, generally pre-kerosene fuels of a much higher viscosity. Includes: whale oil; vegetable oils like Colza; various byproduct greases like bacon grease; lard and other rendered animal fat oils. These high viscosity fuels often need to be preheated before they were sufficiently liquid to be wicked by capillary action. Transportation lighting continued to use fuels like these (engine oil and heavier fuel oils) for railroad car, ship, signal and even terminal lighting well into the age of electricity because they were not as susceptible to explosion, didn’t slop around as much as thinner fuels, and were readily available because of motive power fuel or lubrication requirements.

Incandescence:

In lamping terms, the reaction of certain rare earth metallic element salts to intense heat. Visible light (and heat) is generated from the molecular action of these elements raised to high temperatures. "Mantles" (greatly simplified!) are structures of fabric treated with metallic salts such as Thorium, Cesium or Yttrium oxides, then sintered and shaped to form either rigid or "rag" mantles. Rigid mantles, like the Aladdin or the old gas lamp mantle, are structures of ASH protected in their unburned form by collodion so they may be shipped to the user. ANY mantle, once burned, is (again) naught but ash, and is thus VERY fragile.

Iron Horse:

A particularly US term for a hanging lamp with a heavy cast-iron frame with a built-in extender. The heavy shade support ring acts as a counter-weight to allow the font to be pulled down for filling and lighting the lamp.

Ives Illuminator:

A Patented clear glass appurtenance designed to fit in the burner gallery, replacing the lamp chimney, and supporting a glass shade. It is not clear whether these actually WORKED effectively as a primary draft control, as the chimney does, but as they were generally found ONLY on flat-wick lamps, and there were a LOT of them sold, they must have functioned satisfactorily.

"K-1":

The US grade of kerosene found in bulk at gasoline stations, and packaged for sale as lamp fuel at hardware outlets. Can be fairly high (10 to 15%) in sulphur content, and is really better, in many cases, for use in tractors, etc. than in lamps and heaters because of the objectionable odor. There seems to be NO "lamp grade" kerosene sold in the US anymore as of old. The very existence of this K-1 kerosene fuel is threatened in the US because of a 1997-8 law to prevent its use as a fuel to circumvent Federal Highway Use taxes attached to motor fuels. There is appearing an "off-road" kerosene (and diesel fuel as well) that contains a red dye to distinguish it from highway fuel should some government inspector come to check your vehicle fuel tank. For lamp use, anyway, you’re likely better off just paying the extra money for highway fuel taxed kerosene.

Kerosene:

"Coal Oil", in the UK "Paraffin" (as named by its Patentee, James Young), "lamp fuel" to many. Technically: Specific gravity: 0.775 to 0.78; Distillation Initial Boiling point: 340 deg. F minimum; Distillation final ("Dry Point"): 550 deg. F maximum;Flash Point: 115 deg. F. minimum.

Lamp:

For definition purposes, a lighting artifact intended for use INDOORS. Can be fixed or portable; of any "fuel" source ("gas", liquid fuel, electricity, chemical reaction.)

Lantern:

According to the dictionary: "a transparent or translucent, usually portable, case for enclosing a light and protecting it from the wind, rain, etc." The word is thought to be a corruption of the late 1500's word "Lanthorn"...lanterns used to have windows or reflectors made from translucent sheets of animal horn; a "Lanter" (occupational family name) is one who makes things from horn. For our purposes, a lighting device intended for primarily OUTDOOR use, or in conditions not usually found in a dwelling structure. Portable by design, although in use it may be fixed in position. These are most commonly liquid fueled, although candle lanterns were once common, and propane lanterns are common today, as are battery-powered electric lanterns (a "flashlight" is thus a lantern, by definition.) ["Lantern" is also an architectural term for the structure atop many Victorian houses designed to let sunlight penetrate into the interior of a home, and in some cases, provide additional ventilation or let out smoke.]

Lard Oil:

A refined product from rendered lard and the oleifins from tallow and other animal fats. A 'heavy' oil, often home-made, and the source of much home lighting in the late US Colonial period, with specific burners ising a woven flat wick developed to burn them. A lard opil burner is similar in concept to a whale oil burner, but has a flat tube to carry a woven lamp wick.

Library lamp:

The common "hanging lamp" with frequently colored glass or other decorated glass shades, in sizes to 14" or more. These lamps were designed to reflect light downward from a burner suspended from the ceiling by an "extender" that allowed the fixture to be pulled down for lighting, etc., and then returned to its position above the head of the user.

Lifting Mechanism/Lifting Gallery:

The device that allows the lamp to be lit without removing the chimney. The entire "gallery" and chimney are raised/rotated/repositioned so access to the wick/point of combustion is possible to light the lamp.

Liquid fuel:

ANY fuel added to a lamp in liquid form, regardless of how this fuel is ultimately delivered to the burner. Liquid fuels are: alcohol, kerosene/paraffin. Gasoline/petrol, naphtha, heavy oil, burning fluid, etc.

Ligne

A troublesome term! Originally the measuremnet of the thickness or diameter of a watch movement, it is used in Europe to define the size of generally German-made burners. There are roughly 12 lignes per inch (actually inches divided by .0888 or cm divided by 2.2558). What does it actually measure on a lamp? Good question; lots of arguement! The most reasonable theory I know says it is the width of the INSIDE of a round wick when folded flat, or roughly 1/2 the diameter of the inner wick tube. Does this check out when catalogue wick sizes are compared to burner descriptions? Not always, but sometimes it does. Anyway, the description is generally only used for center draft lamps, or the side draft flat wick formed round (like the Kosmos).

Liverpool Button:

The first "modern" flame spreader, patented in England in 1845 as part of Geprge Robert's "Astral Solar" lamp. It is the familiar disk on top of a shaft, centered in the inner draft tube, and designed to spread the circular flame outward, and in combination with a restricted chimney, shape the flame produce more light.

Mantle:

See Incandescence, above. The part of a lamp that creates light from HEAT, not from the visible flame. A woven fabric soaked in a chemical bath, shaped and burned off (in the case of rigid mantles), leaving a bag of ash. It is the rare earth chemicals that incandesce...the ash bag is just a "support" for incandescinf material. Developed and patented by Carl Auer, Baron Von Welsbach. There are 2 types, "rigid" and "soft" and 3 common types: Framed (always "upright", with open end at bottom) like an Aladdin or regular gas mantle; "Invert" or "Ring" with open end at top (ring support is usually a ceramic material) and "rag" or soft, like a Coleman or other lantern mantle. And the word is spelled "M-A-N-T-L-E", not mantel (like the thing over a fireplace.)

Mineral Spirits/Odorless Mineral Spirits:

A petroleum distillate in the same "family" as kerosene and naphtha, coming off AFTER kerosene in fractional distillation, and fairly close to kerosene in properties. Used today as lighter fluid and charcoal lighter and as an industrial solvent, "OMS" is a possible substitute for kerosene as a "lamp oil." Chemically, it contains around 96% "paraffins", NO sulphur, and has less than .5% "aromatics", and a minimal odor. Commercial "OMS" seems to burn somewhat hotter than either kerosene or naphtha in an Aladdin mantle lamp in trials done by the Secretary.
Technically: Specific Gravity: 0.74 to 0.775; Distillation Initial Boiling Point: 340 deg.F minimum; Distillation Final ("Dry Point"): 410 deg. F maximum; Flash Point: 120 deg F. minimum.

Mechanical Lamps:

A category of lamps using some sort of mechanical or clockwork mechanism to either pump the heavy oil fuel to the point of combustion, or later, containing a clockwork driven fan to produce a draft without the use of a chimney. Early heavy oil examples include the CARCEL and the MODERATOR; the later fan-driven ones include the DEKERAVANEN-JONES, the HITCHCOCK, the WANZER, MINZA and KRANZOW.

Metals"Rule of thumb" definitions of metals used in lamp architectural parts (fount holders, stems, feet, etc:
•  Cast Iron:Similar in appearance to pot metal, but heavier and ferrous, so it is magnetic. The cheaper grades used in lamp parts are rigid, but can be fragile. When fractured, the crystaline structure is clearly evident. Cast iron is a grey color usually, and when looked at closely, will reveal its porosity. Another point: cast iron rusts. •  PewterAn alloy of lead and tin (non-magnetic). This material is soft, and will not bear weight well (it tends to distort). It can be cast, or formed from sheets, but is NOT commonly found in structural parts (like fount holders and stems) of kerosene lighting. Pewter is almost always marked as such (and in the UK, will carry a hallmark as well as the identification of the metal. Mike Dolan reminds me that Pewter WAS commonly used for founts in whale oil and burning fluid lamps, and for candlesticks. • $nbsp"Pot Metal"or “Spelter”: Largely zinc-based non-ferrous (and thus non-magnetic) alloys that were inexpensive, rigid, easily cast and decorated, but somewhat brittle. Early castings are subject to "intergranular corrosion", the term used to describe the growing, warping and cracking of deteriorated pot metal castings ...what I call "pot metal discase." Pot metal was commonly used for fount carriers, stems (particularly figurals) and cast feet on lamps. The outer surface can be as smooth and featureless as pewter, but as a cast alloy, when it is fractured, its crystaline structure is evident. Although there may be technical differences in the specific alloys, for our purposes they are effectively the same. Of course, being non-ferrous, pot metal doesn’t rust.
Note: Parts such as these today would probably be cast from aluminum to save weight and eliminate the brittleness. But in the period when ‘our’ lamps were made, aluminum was a very expensive metal (refining it before the electric furnace was developed was very difficult), so it was not used except on the most expensive lamps. It did get used in some carbon arc lighting at the turn of the century (per Chuck Hayes), and electric lighting in the 30’s, as its strength and lightness offset its production cost.

Miniature lamps

General term for small lamps. NOT the prefered term for Night lamps, which are properly a separate class. There ARE miniature sizes of larger lamps (Sweetheart, Greek Key, The Tiny Juno, etc.) that are scaled down versions of their bigger brothers and sisters, so the term is not invalid.

Mittrailleuse burner:

A German Patent side-draft burner (Swintzer and Graff) sold in Europe, England and the US. Features a round wick configuration made up of multiple "rope" wicks arranged in a circle, and blended together with a Liverpool button type flame spreader.

Moderator Lamp:

An 1836 Patent (M. Franchot) mechanical lamp, based on earlier English Patents, and utilizing a clockwork-driven spring to force the heavy oil fuel to the point of combustion. The spring pressure was controlled so the fuel pressure remained constant. This Moderator design (with many additional patents by various inventors) successfully made the bridge into the Kerosene era.

NCD:

Non Central Draft; UK term for "side draft."

Naphtha:

A petroleum distillate, from the same "middle distillates" as kerosene and "mineral spirits", but is somewhat more volatile than kerosene. Naphtha is the "first cut", coming off in fractional distillation BEFORE Kerosene. Today used as a solvent, and paint thinner (not recommended as such!). Has been sold in a blended form by Coleman as "white gas" or "Coleman Fuel" for years. A generally safe substitute for automotive gasoline in lamps DESIGNED to burn gasoline, but a bit too volatile for safe use in kerosene lamps. Commercial Naphtha contains approximately 50 to 52% "paraffins", and about 48% "napthenes", NO sulphur, a very low "aromatics", and has a "mild" odor.
Technically: Specific Gravity 0.7775 to 0.804; Initial Distillation Point: 350 deg. F minimum; Final Distillation ("Dry Point"): 415 deg. F maximum; flash point: 142 deg. F.

Night Lamp

Small lamps (generally accepted as those with OO, O or perhaps #1 burners, or 6''' or perhaps 8''' or SMALLER) designed to burn all night...small wicks, low capacity fonts, and just enough light to avoid bumping into furniture. They often were finger lamps, for easy portability.

"Oil Lamp":Generically, ANY lamp fueled with a liquid or semi-liquid petroleum, animal fat or vegetable oil. Collectors usually are much more specific in terms.

"1-K™":

The brand name for Sunoco’s kerosene sold in bulk at certified dealers. 95% sulphur free, it has a greatly reduced odor. I’m told it is exactly the same as what Sunoco sells as Jet Fuel. Not every Sunoco dealer has it, as the Company is quite fussy about what goes into a tank marked "1-K", and regularly samples dealers tanks to assure nothing but this more highly refined kerosene is sold. It makes a superb kerosene heater fuel, as the odor level is almost eliminated from the burned product!

Pan lamp:

An early fat or grease-burning lamp; a shallow pan, often supported on a central shaft, distinguished by a free floating wick or wicks. The predecessor of the Crusie and Betty lamps.

Paraffin:

UK term for kerosene.

US "Paraffin Oil"

Paraffin Oil in the United States should be labeled "Not for use in Flat Wick Oil Lamps or Lanterns," here's why: In Europe, and other parts of the world, what Americans call kerosene is called "paraffin." In the United States, however, "paraffin oil" is NOT an equivalent to kerosene, and is not designed for use in either oil lanterns or lamps with flat wicks. The major differences between the two fuels are the flash points and viscosity. The flashpoint of 99% or 100% Paraffin Oil (Nowells, Ultra-Pure, etc.) is well over 200 degrees Farenheit, whereas kerosene has a nominal flashpoint of 150 degrees. Because of this, paraffin will only burn at 1/2 the brightness of kerosene in lamps or lanterns with 5/8" or smaller wick when the flame is adjusted to the same size. Paraffin Oil will not burn properly at all in lamps or lanterns with wick larger than 5/8", and will have problematic symptoms. Since paraffin doesn't have the same viscosity as kerosene, it cannot be drawn to the flame as fast as it is consumed, this causes the sputtering and wick charring, which in turn makes it even more difficult for the paraffin to reach the flame. Once you contaminate a wick with "paraffin oil", it must be replaced, and the oil must be drained and replaced with a proper fuel, either kerosene, or standard lamp oil. You should only use paraffin oil in "Un-Candles," "Floating Wick Candles" or or small wick, low consumption oil lamps. If you must use paraffin oil in a large wick lamp, it may be mixed 1:10 with standard lamp oil so that it will burn satisfactorily. I hope this info helps. Best Regards, Woody Kirkman

Parlor Lamp:

A highly decorous kerosene lamp, featuring a painted or otherwise decorated globe atop a similarly decorated glass font holder. These lamps were more for SHOW than for actual light, as the globe absorbed most of the light the lamp produced. This is the proper name for the so-called "Gone with the Wind" lamp.

Petrol:

UK term for gasoline, either lamp fuel or automobile fuel.

Phoebe lamp:

An early fat or grease-burning lamp; a "double" crusie, with one smaller pinched pan hanging above a larger second pan designed to catch the inevitable drips from the "lamp" portion.

Point of Combustion/Combustion zone:

The location in a lamp burner where the primary flame that produces either the light, or in the case of a Bunsen flame, the heat that allows the incandescence to happen, is produced. In wick lamps, it is obviously at the top of the wick.

Pot Metal.

See: "Metals"

Pressure Lamp:

Any lamp that uses pressure (either added air pressure [measured in pounds per square inch] OR force of Gravity [measured in inches of head] to conduct lamp fuel to point of combustion.

Round Wick:

The circular wick typical of an Argand-type lamp. Pure "round wicks" were traditionally central draft lamps (The Model B Aladdin is an obvious exception). Side draft versions generally employed one or more flat wicks formed into a round configuration by the point of combustion by channels inside the burner body [Kosmos burners common examples of this "flat wick formed round" or FW(R)/].

Rushlight/rush holder

A generally wrought iron pincher, sometimes also featuring a candle holder, designed to gently grip a "rush", a split piece of marsh reed soaked in fat, grease or tallow (a sort of "natural candle"). The common lighting device in Colonial America, and the symbol of the oldest of the American lamp study clubs.

Sewing lamp:

This it isn't a "real" lamping term. Several glassmakers in the later kerosene period (20's and 30's) called their large glass founts made for #3 burners "sewing lamps", rather than "table lamp" or "reading lamp". It seems more of an advertising gimmick than a commonly used term. They were generally cheap and plain, made of thick glass, and without shades or globes. But definately NOT the same as "library lamp", which describes a much earlier and fancier style of ceiling-hung reading lamp.

Shade:

The decorative and often reflective glass or metal appurtenance generally placed above and external to the burner and chimney assembly. In some cases the shade also served as a chimney, as in the case of Night Lamp "chimney shades" and with items like the Ives Illuminator, a clear glass shade support designed to eliminate the chimney all together.

Shale Oil:

An 1850's term for the first lamp fuel distilled from oil shale. A similar term to "rock oil", describing early petroleum based fuels (NOTE: the root word "petro" comes from the greek word "petra", meaning "rock".)

Side Draft:

Equal to "Non central draft", a round wick [or more likely, an FW(R)] burner that does not draw its inside-the-flame air through from beneath the font, but all air used in the combustion comes from within the burner itself. A font with a shaft completely through the fuel area is Central Draft; one with a solid bottom is generally Side Draft (so all of the ubiquitous US "Eagles", "Queen Annes", etc are by definition Side Draft.

Sperm Oil:

The most desirable and expensive "whale oil". Cold Pressed from the fluid portion of the cranial cavity of the Atlantic Sperm Whale. Such a pure and consistant fuel that the Standard "Candlepower" was established around candles made from this oil. Sperm Oil was considered the premium lubricant for delicate instruments into the 1950's, when international pressure forced the whaling industry to stop taking this endangered species, and the US actually banned any import or even possession of whale products made after the date of the law. [The lubrication of instruments is now done with manufactured lubricants.]

Splint holder

Similar to a rushlight holder in principle, with both using the "two fingers" pinch method, but far less sophisticated. Basically two bands of iron jammed into a piece of wood, it is designed to hold small pieces of wood (splinters, or splints) while they burn.

Spirits:

UK/European term for Alcohol (fuel grade, methylated spirits, denatured alcohol, etc.)

Store lamp:

Similar to the Library lamp, but generally with large capacity fonts and large diameter wicks (to extend burning time over a whole work day, and give as much light as possible), and often with metal shades (precluding breakage and maximizing reflection downwards). "Store" lamp because of the generally commercial usage.

Student Lamp:

(In the UK, "Reading Lamp") For definition purposes, a table lamp with the main font on one side of a support shaft, and the burner on the other side, with the assembly free to rotate around the shaft, and be moved up and down, to position the light producer for maximum light on books, etc.. The obvious exception, also universally called a "student" lamp, is the Harvard Mammoth type, where the support shaft runs through the font, but it still can rotate and be moved up and down the shaft.

Table Lamp

In most cases, an obvious phrase. But in the late Victorian era, this was used to distinguish a short-stemmed "fancy" lamp from its longer stemmed "banquet lamp" brother.

Thimble:

A common name for the perforated flame spreader (like the Aladdin in design) that allows air from the center draft tube to be precisely directed to the inside top of the circular flame in an "Argand" type lamp burner. May or may not have an aditional spreader disk located on or near the top (like the common RAYO or ROYAL.)

Torch:

For our purposes, I will ignore all but the liquid fueled "torches", as well as those lantern-like torches (known as "smudge pots" used as safety markers, etc. "Torch" was used as the name of the type of light that commonly had a wall-hung fount shaped like a frying pan, with a long downwards tube with a 90 deg. bend at the bottom leading to a burner that protruded abot 18 to 24" away from the wall. For "home" use, these gravity feed lights burned either gasoline/petrol or kerosene/paraffin with an open flame, with no chimney or shade. The same type of lamp was referred to in Australia as a "stall lantern", used to both heat and light outdoor stalls in markets, etc.

"UltraPure©":

Trademark for one of the preferred US fuels for kerosene lamps. Perhaps a proprietary formula, it is essentially an odorless mineral spirits (YES! ODORless!), contains no sulphur, and no suspended solids to clog wicks. Terribly expensive, largely due to the retail packaging in PET bottles, it is the Dom Perignon of lamp fuels!

Vapor lamp:

A lamp where the liquid fuel is vaporized by heat or flame in a preliminary step, and then the resultant vapor burned in a second step. In practical terms, ALL liquid fuel lamps do this, but there is a specific type of lamp where the process is notably separate, often requiring a separate wicking system to get the liquid to the vaporization chamber before the burnable vapor is conducted to the point of combustion. Alcohol mantle lamps are good examples of this type, but technically, a Coleman pressure lamp or lantern employs the same principle.

Vegatable oils:

Lamp fuels obtained by pressing crushed fruits and seeds. Olive oil (utilizing the pressings after the 'food grade' product was reserved) was a common lamp fuel in continental Europe from early days. Rape seed oil (or Colza) was extracted from seed of several members of the cabbage family, and was a popular replacement for whale oil. Lamp oils were also obtained from such seeds as almonds, cotton seed, peanuts, but these products were not commonly used as lamp fuel, probably because of the almost simultaneous development of kerosene/coal oil. Many of these oils have found their marketplace today as cooking oils. Brother Carl Gaeth noted in a lecture that even Cannabis (hemp, or Marijuana) seed oil was tried as a lamp fuel, but didn't find general acceptance because of its disagreeable odor; its use was limited to the poor. "They, unlike Bill Clinton, probably inhaled the smoke, and found it objectionable."

Whale Oil:

Likely the most predominant fuel for American domestic lighting in the first 25 or so years of the Nineteenth Century. Made from the rendered fat of of the whale, and sparking a huge largely New England-based whale hunting industry in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It didn't take long before over-fishing began to drive the price of whale oil beyond the reach of all but the wealthy, and substitute fuels began to be developed. The whale oil burner is bascally a disk (may be "drop in", cork-fit, or screwed into a collar)with one or more parallel placed tubes holding wicks pierced through it, with an inch or so of tubing being below the top, and sticking down into the generally small capacity font to help liquify the fuel with conducted heat. [The "burning fluid" burner, often confused by the unknowing antique dealer with whale oil burners, has its wick tubes almost completely ABOVE the burner top, and splayed away from each other.] Many collectors feel that the whale oil lamp period produced some of America's most beautiful manufactured lamps; not surprising, as the American Glass industry was beginning to feel its technical and marketing muscles, and companies like Boston and Sandwich Glass were at their creative best.

At this point, this list is better than first posted, but nowhere near complete. It is a personal compliation that may reflect the author's misconceptions about what these terms mean! I have attempted to provide a useful and yet comprehensive "Lamping Dictionary". Many sources were used for developing these definitions; the author apologizes if there is some unintended plagarism above; he sincerely hopes that other lampers will make additions and/or corrections; whatever will make the list "complete" and useful to lampers everywhere in the English-speaking world. Please contact: Guild Secretary with your input. Thank you!