Antique Ship's Lantern, Geo. B Carpenter Chicago, Red/Green. Port/Starboard
WE'LL BOTH BE SURE YOU'RE IN GREAT HANDS! It has the red and green glass plate lenses of the early Carpenter lanterns BEFORE the Fresnel lens became common in lanterns. Made by Geo B Carpenter of Chicago. There was a passing protocol in the rulebooks that this identifying marker signalled so a captain passed on the correct side. It is almost certainly made before 1902 or so.
It has a twist-and-drop brass fount. The tank, and chimney top is brass. The body of the lamp is heavy-gauge galvanized tin. The lamp is in near perfect shape!!!
The glass lenses were built into the lamp so they could probably not be changed out. Luckily they are perfect too! I believe they are flashed glass....... Red glass was not available as thick transparent glass until after the Colloidal Process was invented in 1893 by Corning, so thin layers of red glass was fused onto a thicker pane of glass.. THIS LENS HAS THE HALLMARK OF THIS PROCESS!GREEN GLASS WAS ALSO DONE THIS WAY ALSO SO YOU COULD ACTUALLY SEE THROUGH IT!! THAT GREEN LENS ALSO HAS THE EVIDENCE OF THIS PROCESS! The burner has a DOUBLE star wheel.
ONE OF THEM SEEMS TO BE LOOSE ON THE RAISING STEM..... When you raise or lower the wick, it can stop and then not go any further...... You would use a wide-blade EYELASH TWEEZER or your fingernails to help it along if needed!!!
THIS LANTERN HAS A NEW WICK of the CORRECT SIZE!!! FOR MARINE LANTERNS IT IS 7/16THS OR 11 MILLIMETER IN A THINNER GAUGE THAN THE NORMAL 1/2 INCH WICK FOR RAILROAD LANTERNS! If you replace the burner, a DRESSEL burner from the drop-fount brakeman's lantern is an exact duplicate to this burner...... Those lanterns are the common collectable ones you see in all the antique stores and railroad artifact shows.
THIS LANTERN IS REALLY ONE BEAUTIFUL LANTERN!