Carbide Cap Lamps/Hughes Pathfinder Side

Carbide Cap Lamps

Hughes Pathfinder Side.JPG - HUGHES PATHFINDER - Brass Pathfinder cap lamp by Hughes Brothers, Scranton, PA, with larger brass reflector and black enameled clip, complete with original felt holder and sparker assembly, unmarked base (Hughes Brothers began making safety lamps in the early 1870s and by 1912, they had a significant market share of the safety lamp sales in the US. In the early 1910s, brothers Ralph W. and William H. Hughes of Scranton, PA introduced three new acetylene lamps manufactured by the Hughes Brothers. Designated Pathfinder, two were hand lamps (one touted as a sportsman lamp) and the third was a cap lamp as shown here easily recognized by the black steel clip that attaches the reflector to the lamp. All lamps were available in either brass or nickel plate with two different sized reflectors in brass or steel. The Pathfinder cap lamp was advertised as early as 1914 and into the 1920s in Keystone Catalogs. In 1920, a third brother, Sidney Hughes, joined the Hughes Brothers Brass Works eventually becoming president of the firm in 1931. As noted by Gregg Clemmer, the Pathfinder lamps had limited use, primarily in Pennsylvania, but they never achieved the same success as the Hughes safety lamps. The company went out of business in 1937. See Clemmer, American Miners’ Carbide Lamps, p 75 and Thorpe, Carbide Light, pp 67-71)

Hughes Pathfinder Side | HUGHES PATHFINDER - Brass Pathfinder cap lamp by Hughes Brothers, Scranton, PA, with larger brass reflector and black enameled clip, complete with original felt holder and sparker assembly, unmarked base (Hughes Brothers began making safety lamps in the early 1870s and by 1912, they had a significant market share of the safety lamp sales in the US. In the early 1910s, brothers Ralph W. and William H. Hughes of Scranton, PA introduced three new acetylene lamps manufactured by the Hughes Brothers. Designated Pathfinder, two were hand lamps (one touted as a sportsman lamp) and the third was a cap lamp as shown here easily recognized by the black steel clip that attaches the reflector to the lamp. All lamps were available in either brass or nickel plate with two different sized reflectors in brass or steel. The Pathfinder cap lamp was advertised as early as 1914 and into the 1920s in Keystone Catalogs. In 1920, a third brother, Sidney Hughes, joined the Hughes Brothers Brass Works eventually becoming president of the firm in 1931. As noted by Gregg Clemmer, the Pathfinder lamps had limited use, primarily in Pennsylvania, but they never achieved the same success as the Hughes safety lamps. The company went out of business in 1937. See Clemmer, American Miners’ Carbide Lamps, p 75 and Thorpe, Carbide Light, pp 67-71)

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