Collections Database

Description:
Mushroom-shaped tin whale oil lamp with two wick tubes, brass lip, and a strap handle, which George Sheldon donated to PVMA, listed in the Kitchen as as: "111. Petticoat Lamp. very old." The manufacture of oil lamps in America, which began in the 1820's, reached its peak in the 1840s and 1850s; they were made in a variety of shapes, and had burners with either one or two wicks for whale oil or "burning fluid." From originally burning lard, fish, and whale oils, the burning fluids for oil lamps later became petroleum (found in 1814, dug from wells), camphene, and kerosene.

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+64.341

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