The Cambridge Glass Co. was one of America’s premier glass companies in the 20th century. It was founded in 1873, but its factory did not open in Cambridge, Ohio until 1901. The factory’s first piece of glass was a three pint pitcher produced in May, 1902.

After ownership changes, the company went out of business in 1958 as a result of the influx of cheap, foreign made glass.

Cambridge Glass was an innovator of colored and etched glass. Its glass colors included moonlight blue, pink, emerald green, amber, gold-encrusted and a creamy, opaque hue called Crown Tuscan that can range from light pink to dark tan.

Their etched glass styles included Rosepoint, Portia, Diane, and Minerva. Their most collectible etched glass is Rosepoint. It was made as a complete table set and could be found on three different blanks.

Caprice is probably one of the most collectible pressed patterns of Cambridge. It is generally found in moonlight blue. Some pieces sell for a few thousand dollars.

Cambridge also made figurines that could be used as flower frogs – bashful Charlotte, two kids, and the rose lady. They also made ball vases with a keyhole stem in all the colors that are collectible.

The Cambridge molds were purchased by the Imperial Glass Co., which went out of business in 1984. Many of the old Cambridge molds were sold again to other glass companies, as well as an Ohio not-for-profit organization, National Cambridge Collectors Inc., that operates the Cambridge Glass Museum in the company’s hometown.

To keep light in a home during the 1800′s required the use of oil lamps, for the most part. The glass lamps were functional, put out enough candlepower to light a small room, and served as night lights for the kids.

The first one above, circa 1820, is a clear blown glass lamp with a pressed bottom. You poured the oil in the top and sealed it with a cork. The yellow glass lamp was also a blown glass lamp, both made by the Sandwich Glass Co. near Boston, Massachusetts.

It was the Boston & Sandwich Glass Co. that revolutionized glass production beginning about the 1830s. Instead of cutting designs into glass, glass was blown mechanically into forms that produced intricate detail in a fraction of the time of hand blown glass – about every 15 seconds. The cost of glass dropped dramatically for consumers.

Another hand blown glass lamp, circa 1840, not necessariy produced by the Sandwich Glass Co., used a heavy pewter collar which was appropriate since it also burnt heavy oil.

By 1845, Cornelius and Baker created this decorative brass table lamp that used mineral oil or kerosene to emit light. It was messy and dirty, but it certainly did the job well.

The little one with the two prongs had a brass cover and used a cable with ring. It was lit by a match when the top was off and burned mineral oil, too. This was a primary lamp from the 1845 to about 1865.

Like many successful businesses, one of the most prominent late 19th and early 20th century ceramics and pottery companies was created from a hobby.

Maria Longworth Nichols Storer painted blank china pieces. By 1870, she had experimented to get just the right glazes and just the right temperatures to create high quality ceramic ware to open her own marketing company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Known as Rookwood Pottery Company, her ceramic pieces created over a period of 70 years would be considered one of the most collectible ceramic series with one piece bringing $375,000 at auction in 2004.

At first, early Rockwood would be done on natural clay with an abundance of pinks, sage, and greens sometimes with carved or stamped patterns.

But then a more “standard” glaze appeared. Gold, red, orange over dark brown glaze produced a very high gloss finish, usually utilizing a leaf or flower pattern and, at times, even historical figures.

A “matte” glaze followed featuring pale blue and greens painted on soft colored clay painted over a yellow, blue or red base.

Next, came a “vellum” glaze that was a light blue matte over a lightly colored clay.

The “iris” glaze was a high gloss white brushed over a pink, blue, or yellow base used mostly for flower motifs and patterns.

“Tiger eye” was a glaze that included gold streaks that proved unstable. This glaze wasn’t produced much and so is quite collectible, if found.

The very last standard was “ombroso” glaze, a brown or black matte glaze usually used with cut or incised pieces.

Rookwood Pottery Company continued producing amazing tiles, vases, architectural features, and other ceramic and pottery pieces until 1941 when production ended. The Depression hit the company hard and never fully recovered.

In 2004, the name Rookwood is again producing fine pottery and highly collectible ceramic wonders in Cincinnati, Ohio where the original Rookwood Pottery Company was located.

The vision of Maria Longworth Nichols Storer will once again be fired in every distinctive pottery and ceramic collectible produced by the new Rookwood Pottery Company.

The Aladdin Mantel Lamp Co. was established by Victor S. Johnson in 1908. He enjoyed reading about the Arabian Nights series of books while young. As an adult he introduced a particular kind of indoor lamp that produced a rather soft white light and named the lamp Aladdin.

For the past 100 years, the Aladdin Mantel Lamp Co. has produced all manner of kerosene, oil, and electrical lamps, but each can be identified easily by a number stamped into the knob that is used to raise and lower the wick, except for the initial period of manufacture between 1909 and August 1913.

Since the very first lamp was sold by the company in 1909, there have been 17 different models produced. Some models are more collectable than others. Following are the Model Types and when they were sold:

Model 1 was sold between May 1909 and August 1910
Model 2 was sold between September 1909 and December 1910
Model 3 was sold between January 1911 and August 1912
Model 4 was sold between September 1912 and August 1913
Model 5 was sold between September 1913 and August 1914
Model 6 was sold between September 1914 and July 1917
Model 7 was sold between August 1917 and July 1919
Model 8 was sold between August 1919 and August 1920
Model 9 was sold between August 1920 and August 1922
Model 10 was sold between May 1921 and August 1922
Model 11 was sold between September 1922 and May 1928
Model 12 was sold between May 1928 and April 1935
Model A was sold between May 1932 and December 1932
Model B was sold between February 1933 and September 1955
Model C was sold between October 1955 and April 1963
Model 21C was sold between May 1963 and December 1969
Model 23 has been sold since December 1969.

Models 1, 3, and 10 are hard to find as collectibles while Models 6, 11 and 12 are rather common.

This is a very elementary way to begin collecting Aladdin Lamps. After all, light never goes out of style.

Visit http://www.aladdinknights.org and http://www.aladdinlamps.com to review the history of the Aladdin Lamp and why it is so collectible.

In the collectible world of oil, kerosene, and electrical lamps there is an abundant of detailed books explaining the history, type, color, manufacturer, values and other specific details needed to verify any lamp.

We highlight only a select few here, but there are so many others to consider when starting your own lamp collection.

The first is “Aladdin, The Magic Name in Lamps”, by J.W. Courter published in 1978. The Aladdin Mantel Lamp Co. was started in 1907 and continues production today courtesy of a select few of Aladdin Knights, early collectors of Aladdin lamps. Mr. Courter provides the full history of the Aladdin Lamp Co and the complete line of lamps produced during the last 100 years.

J. W. Courter also produced “Center Draft Kerosene Lamps 1884-1940 Identification and Value Guide” published in hard cover in 2007. This is a most indispensable guide to kerosene lamps as a distinct collectible. The current value of every kerosene lamp is included in this first edition, but a new guide is published every year.

What J. W. Courter does for kerosene lamps, Catherine M. V. Thuro does with oil lamps. “Oil Lamps, the Kerosene era in North America” is a standard reference guide for all oil lamps as of this first edition in 1999. Two subsequent editions by Catherine M. V. Thuro featuring oil lamps were “Oil Lamps II, Glass Kerosene Lamps” published in 1983 and “Oil Lamps III, Victorian Kerosene Lighting, 1860 to 1900″ published in 2001. All are standard reference guides.

Most of these guides can still be found except J.W. Courter’s 1st edition of his kerosene lamp series dating to 1978. There are many other additional fine reference guides in this field from miniature lamps to hanging lamps.

In the arcane world of oil lamps there are considered to be three distinct phases: simple olive oil lamps from prehistory to the 18th century, the Argand lamp created about 1780, and the kerosene lamp created about 1850.

First, the original oil lamp. First created from terra cotta, eventually this simple reservoir of oil and a plain wick produced light by soaking the wick in olive oil placed in the reservoir and lighting its end to produce light, but little heat. Evenually made from brass and bronze, it remained a standard light fixture until the invention of the Argan lamp in 1780.

It was a powerful invention for its time. Aime Argand patented a system that produced the first chimney-type of oil lamp with a brigher light equivalent to 6 to 10 candle power. Using spermaceti whale oil was also an improvement as it reduced the cost of heating the lamp itself. Until kerosene, a even cheaper fuel changed the face of lamps in 1850.

Basically, it was a change in the wick and how the air is drawn upward to maximize the use of oxygen near the flame. Ignacy Lukasiewicz, a Polish inventor, invented the new system about 1853. This draft form of lighting also came with a wick that can be adjusted up or down to increase the amount of light given off. But it was Abraham Gesner that pioneered the use of kerosene or coal oil in Halifax, Nova Scotia in his Kerosene Gas Light Company in 1850 which eventually was absorbed into Standard Oil Company.

There are additional variations of the oil lamp known as the mantle and pressure lamp. The mantle is a circular wick that uses more fuel, but also produces more light and heat. A pressure lamp relies on pumping air through to vaporize the kerosene before it is lighted. This is a popular version used by campers under the Coleman logo.

Many of the early oil lamps are quite collectible and are still used by many developing communities around the world as a cheap source of heat and light.

Another interest we would like to intoduce you to is Heisey Glass, a favorite of Sheri for many years.

The A. H. & Heisey Company produced decorative glass pieces from 1896 to 1957 in Newark, Ohio. The National Heisey Glass Museum is located in Newark in the 1831 Greek Revival home of Samuel D. King which features galleries, a media center and a large collection of virtually every piece of known Heisey Glass ever manufactured including the original molds, patterns, and etchings.

An original Heisey piece features a rather distinctive mark that may not be readily noticed sometimes because at times the mark is either worn on the original pattern or it is placed in a somewhat awkward location. But, it can be found if you look hard enough.

The Heisey mark is really a capital H inside a diamond or Diamond H pattern similar to the image above from the National Heisey Glass Museum. Because of its collectibility, any companies want reproduce a Heisey mark on its counterfeit glassware, but fail to make it as clear as an original mark. An example, also from the National Heisey Glass Museum, shows an inferior Heisey mark.

With over 4500 pieces of glassware produced by the A.H. Heisey & Company, the ability to collect originals is very high and a very rewarding experience.

Visit the National Heisey Glass Museum at http://www.heiseymuseum.org for more information on Heisey Glass.

It has a long history of providing heat and warmth to generations of families since 1908. Today, many families around the world still rely on the Aladdin Mantel Lamp’s original use as a main source of light, as a secondary emergency source or as its main source of light in developing countries.

What makes an Aladdin Mantel Lamp unique is that its original patented design hasn’t changed much in nearly 100 years. Originally kerosene, now an odorless liquid fuel, is added to its reservoir and when its wick is lit produces a vapor that when mixed with oxygen produces a brilliant blue flame. A mantel above the blue flame converts the vapor into 60 candlepower of white light or the power of 60 candles lit at once. According to a scientific study, the white light of an Aladdin Mantel Lamp is considered close the effect of natural sunlight. It’s heat is just as prodigious as its light.

An Aladdin Mantel Lamp comes as a desk lamp, a hanging lamp, a student lamp, a decorative lamp and in so many different variety of shades, painted and otherwise, as to make a choice very difficult. Some of the photos will give you an example of the kinds of lamps that are sold today by Aladdin, but it will also allow you to recognize a unique Aladdin-style lamp as a collectible since the style has changed little since 1908.

As an exclusive dealer of Aladdin Mantel Lamps we are able to distinguish between a new or older version and whether it can be reconditioned for additional years of service.

Visit our website at http://www.woodenshoeantiques.com for examples of Aladdin Mantel Lamps and let us answer any questions about any early version of this American-produced supplier of heat and warmth.