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Lamp, Camphene
Lamp, Camphene
TitleLamp, Camphene
Coverage / Year1840 to 1865
DescriptionA small glass lamp, bell-shaped, which has a small semicircular glass handle. The pewter cap and wick fixture is fastened to the top of the glass. This lamp which is very similar to 68.1.1150, is different because it has the very distinctive camphene outsplayed pointed wicks.
InterpretationCamphene, a combination mineral spirits and alcohol was used as a lamp fuel for a short time in the middle of the 19th century. Because whale oil was so expensive camphene was used as a replacement. Camphene was extremely volatile. If the flame from one wick heated the other wick the heat could travel back into the reservoir and explode. Thus, camphene lamps have either single wicks, or double wicks pointed away from one another. Very similar to 68.1.1150 except that this has the camphene wick holder. It could be that this lamp was adapted from another type of lamp.
Lesson Plans / ThemesAmerican Communities in History; Communities and Geography; How we learn about communities; Whaling Slide Show; Inventions Multimedia Time Line; School Museum; Introduction of artifacts as a primary source; What's That Relic?; Settling in the Midwest;
Learning Standards16 History; 18 Social Systems; 13 Science, Technology and Society;
Author or CreatorUnknown
Subject / KeywordsWhale; Whales; Whale oil; Light; Lighting device; Lamps; Camphene
Collection PublisherEarly American Museum
Further InformationFor any further information related to this record, please contact the Collection Publisher. See http://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/tdc for more information about this project.
Rights Management Statementhttp://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/tdc/conditions.htm
Resource Identifier1968.001.1151
CONTENTdm file name79617192422004_68.1.1151.jpg
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