Classic Lanterns

A definitive work on the subject of American made lanterns. A wonderful documentation of the history, contribution and technological progress of lanterns in the United States. An engaging photographic investigation of companies, people, places, uses and prices of kerosene lanterns from 1830 to the present. Contains a wonderful restoration chapter with great hints. It is safe to say that it is a complete treatment.

Of all my books on lantern collecting, this is the one that I would recommend most highly for the beginning or advanced collector alike. It covers a number of lanterns from different manufacturers with great pictures and thorough, accurate descriptions. It also gives the history of the different major manufacturers, restoration tips, and a priceguide. While it does not cover every lantern made, it does not pretend to. It instead educates the reader, so that he/she may age (by construction methods and lantern chacteristics), and determine value of the lantern without the need of reference. In my opinion, you can not go wrong with this book. Mine is dog earred from being read so many times. This is a "must have" for the lantern collector.

Author Dennis Pearson has written a wonderful book that not only gives the history of the kerosene (and precursor fuels) lantern, but is filled with some 200 photographs and illustrations of lanterns past and present. The color photographs are simply superb. These are not snapshots of lanterns, they are studio-lit celebrations of the lantern of the quality you would expect to see in a magazine ad. Pearson's work concentrates on the barn lantern, but the major types and manufacturers of railroad lanterns, as well as other types, are also presented with the author himself pointing out that a number of books have already been written concentrating on the railroad lantern. If you're looking for the details that will help you date a lantern they are here, but you may have to do some page flipping, as a single model of lantern may have been made over such a long time that it spans the author's dividing lines: all solder construction, machine and solder construction, and all machine construction. There are chapters on how to date a lantern, the operation of lanterns, and restoring old lanterns. Finally, Pearson gives a "lantern value calculator" that enables you to calculate the rough value of any lantern, and a price guide to some 130 lanterns, including the more common railroad types and some foreign lanterns. Unlike some other books of this type, Pearson's prices seem to match pretty closely with the real world. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in kerosene lanterns.