A kerosene lantern story

[Hovannes]

Back in the 1970's I bought a Dietz No1 Little Wizard for camping.
If you've ever had a Coleman lantern go renegade you can appreciate my state of mind.
There's no surprises with a Hurricane, even if Mrs O'Leary's cow kicks it.
Knock over a cold blast Dietz and they simply self extinguish.
Or at least they're supposed to.
About a dozen years ago, the Little Wizard went missing which was lamentable because it accompanied my young family on our camping trips
for many years.
The Little Wizard's 9 candle power illuminated a cement NPS outhouse perfectly and fueled with citronella masks the stink pretty efficiently.
Yeah I get sentimental about such things.

This morning I was cleaning in the garage and found a bag and inside was the Little Wizard! A little dented, a little rusty, no wick but the globe was unbroken. Nothing a little WD-40, some judicious bending, a little solder and a 7/8ths wick can't restore,

Here's what a new one looks like:


IIRC, it cost me less than a Hamilton at Fresno Agricultural Hardware in the 1970s. Today it'll run you two Jacksons at WT Kirkman or Lehman's.

That old lantern sure saw a lot of good times!

[michigander]

I stumbled across this video a while back. It's pretty interesting.

[sweetandsour]

I've seen those when I was young(er), but never used one. Do they emit a sound similar to the Coleman lantern? There's not a more comforting sound at night in camp than the deep hiss of a good lantern just getting cranked up.

[Hovannes]

I've seen those when I was young(er), but never used one. Do they emit a sound similar to the Coleman lantern? There's not a more comforting sound at night in camp than the deep hiss of a good lantern just getting cranked up.

Nope. Hurricane's don't hiss like the Colemans do.
I've got a couple of those, too.
Heavily invested in fossil fuels, I am.

[Yohanan]

I like kerosene lanterns, especially when the power goes off.

[Bloodhound]

I am a Colman Fan...I have a few...couple of birthyear manufacture

[Yohanan]

I like Dietz.

[jruegg]

Cool story, bro.

[Hovannes]

I have my late neighbor, Mr. Schwabenland's hurricane lantern on my patio table. I purchased it at his estate sale to remember him by.
It's a New York made Dietz Crescent No.2 from the 20's or 30's. These were unpainted economy versions, and somewhere along the way got painted black. The paint job apparently glued the burner in place, so before I can fire it up I need to get the burner off in order to install a new wick.
At last count I have a total of four Dietz hurricane lanterns but only one made in the USA.

[joegoat]

That's awesome! Keep the old stuff going!