STAND, LAMP - KEROSENE

This lamp was a feature of the Skeet Forrestdale home from 1928 to at least 1953. Before the arrival of electricity in many areas of Australia, it would have been used as a light source. The lamp is marked with insignia denoting that it is made by Aladdin Industries. Records suggest that Aladdin Industries was founded in the U.S.A by Victor Samuel Johnson Sr. in 1919. It was formed as a subsidiary of the Mantle Lamp Company of America which was also founded by Johnson in Chicago, 1908.

Before Aladdin Industries came to fruition, The Mantle Lamp Company would primarily produce and sell kerosene lamps in partnership with the Plume & Atwood Manufacturing Company for the general public. In 1917, The Mantle Lamp Company developed insulated cooking vessels for the U.S military, which later became open to the public market in conjunction with the arrival of Aladdin Industries two years later. There, Aladdin Industries would begin to expand worldwide in the sale of lamps, vacuum goods, and thermal products.

James Seldon Baker would helm the Australian division of Aladdin Industries as managing director in concurrence with the company’s arrival in 1924. The company would enjoy rapid prosperity among the Australian market due to their kerosene mantle lamps providing a superior edge to electric lighting, which was unavailable to many rural areas in Australia at the time. Moreover, the lamps were an efficient and affordable light source, which were also manufactured from high-quality materials that allowed the lamps to replicate daylight to an innovative degree.

There are many local newspapers in Western Australia from the 1920s to the 1950s that advertised these kerosene lamps, and it appears that they were so popular that Aladdin Industries had to warn customers to be wary of imitations. The Mantle Lamp company would go on to eventually sell electric lamps in the 1950s in conjunction with the kerosene lamps. They also diversified their market through selling lunch box kits. While Aladdin lamps are still sold by the Aladdin Mantle Lamp Company of Clarksville, Tennessee (information sourced from 2003), the Aladdin brand was sold to Pacific Market International in 2002. As of today, you can buy insulated water bottles and travel mugs under the Aladdin brand.