Learn About Antique Student Lamps
In the nineteenth century, oil lamps were the primary source of light in most homes in the modern world. These days, there is great interest in the antique student lamp that was so common then.
In that time, over half of the ninety million people in the United States lived in small towns or on farms that were remote from the major cities. Country roads did not lend themselves to distant travel and many of the people in the country had never laid eyes on an automobile! The conveniences that are taken for granted today were unheard of; things such as mail delivery, running water, electricity, indoor bathrooms, and so on.
Once the first oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania (by Colonel E. L. Drake in 1859), many things changed for the average American. This well suddenly was producing in excess of 1000 gallons of petroleum per day. This radical increase in supply dropped the price of oil from one dollar per gallon to one dollar per barrel (one barrel equals 42 gallons). Lighting oils (such as kerosene, coal oil, and paraffin) suddenly became affordable and plentiful. This single event not only stimulated invention of new and better lighting devices, but also increased the popularity and usage of the existing devices, such as the antique student lamp.
The antique student lamp found in antique stores and online was widely used in the late 1800's. These antique student lamps were made in both single and double-burner models. These lamps were well liked because they cast little to no undershadow, which meant that reading and writing were easier to do.
Antique student lamp construction consisted of vertical post on which an oil font is mounted on one side of the post. The oil was then siphoned through the mantle and into the lamp (which was mounted farther up on the post). The lamp itself was often mounted on a swing arm. Most of these antique student lamps had white glass shades (globes) for maximum reflection.
The common antique student lamp of this era stood seven inches to ten inches high and was usually constructed of brass. One of the most popular antique student lamps of the time was the Manhattan student lamp (manufactured by the Manhattan Brass Company). It is easily available in many antique stores today. In England, the same type of lamps were known as reading lamps.
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