Vigo County Historical Society

Let there be light
Kerosene lamps extended work days in Civil War era

Because we live in a world of well-lit nights, it is difficult for us to imagine a dark world, where, when the sun disappeared, all human activity came to a halt.

For centuries man had been able to produce various forms of dim light. The torches of Biblical times, ceramic jars filled with oil and several kinds of oil-burning lamps took away the feeling of total darkness. Most industry, however, stopped at dusk, so the invention of the kerosene lamp with a brightness of seven time that of any light before it, was a wonderful accomplishment.

During the 1850s wells were dug and drilled in Canada and the United States, providing a clear safe fuel named coal-oil or kerosene. The quantities were large for widespread use and distribution.

Many new industries related to the production of lamps soon were springing up. Between 1860 and 1870 the U.S. Patent Office issued nearly 2,000 patents for lighting devices relating to kerosene lamps. By the end of 1862, between four and five million kerosene lamps were in use in the United States.

The basic materials were glass and metal. The glass could be clear, tinted, painted, handblown, etched or pressed. Numerous patterns were used in the lamp bowls. The metals were used for the connecting parts and the base.

Lamps were sold fully assembled or the components could be purchased separately. Several manufacturers could be represented in one lamp and the sizes and variations of design were numerous.

After years of experimentation to perfect the kerosene lamp, it was replaced by Edition’s incandescent light bulb serviced by an electric current. The electric was a brighter light and seemed safer and easier to use. Kerosene lamps were still being made in large numbers as late as 1935 for people living in rural areas but this, too, changed by the mid-’40s.

Today we see lamps sitting on a shelf or table as a decorative item or as an emergency light during an outage.

The museum has several lamps in its collections. The Victorian parlor has a large hand-painted table lamp and two smaller ones. A miniature lamp can be seen in the General Store.