Carbide Cap Lamps/Zar with Box

Carbide Cap Lamps

Zar with Box.jpg - ZAR - Very hard to find Zar brass cap lamp, marked onplaque on top ZAR NEW YORK, marked on side PAT JUNE 6 1911 JULY 1 1913 OCT 14 1913 OTHERS PENDING, new condition, with original box marked ZAR No. 1, ZAR MANUFACTURING CO., 320 Broadway, New York on top and ZAR No. 1, Price $1.00 on each end; ex-Bob Schroth collection (The ZAR lamp is an attractive and desirable lamp sought by collectors. Advertisements in 1914 claimed the lamp to be "the best lamp built" with "18 other advantages" but the short history of the Zar lamp and slow market acceptance of the lamp by the mining community may question those claims. After leaving the John Simmons Co. in 1913, the founder of carbide mining lamps Frederic Baldwin formed the Zar Manufacturing Co. in New York City. By an agreement sometime in the 1914-15 timeframe, Baldwin patented and manufactured his new Zar lamp while Simmons continued to produce and market the familiar hour-glass shaped Baldwin lamp. By the end of 1917, the Zar Manufacturing Co. was already going out of business. Baldwin sold 17 of his lamp patents to Simmons which is interesting in that Simmons was already phasing out production of its carbide lamps while buying the patents. Production of the Zar lamp lasted but a couple years. Three marked varieties of the Zar lamp are known, each selling for one dollar as advertised. The earliest marking was stamped BALCO NEW YORK, presumably for the Baldwin Company, on top and are quite rare. The next earliest style as shown here is marked ZAR NEW YORK in a small plaque on top with three patent dates on the left side of the tank. The later style (as shown elsewhere in my pics) is marked TRADE MARK NEW YORK in small incused letters with ZAR in large incused letters on the lamp top and six patent dates on both sides of the tank. In 1917, Simmons produced and advertised the very rare Hold-A-Lite lamp (shown elsewhere in my pics) with a similar appearance to the Zar. However, the Hold-A-Lite appears to have had a very short production life. See Bohannan, Mining Artifact Collector #16, pp 20-25) CHECK OUT THE BALDWIN ZAR PATENTS IN THE FOLLOWING PICS

Zar with Box | ZAR - Very hard to find Zar brass cap lamp, marked on plaque on top ZAR NEW YORK, marked on side PAT JUNE 6 1911 JULY 1 1913 OCT 14 1913 OTHERS PENDING, new condition, with original box marked ZAR No. 1, ZAR MANUFACTURING CO., 320 Broadway, New York on top and ZAR No. 1, Price $1.00 on each end; ex-Bob Schroth collection (The ZAR lamp is an attractive and desirable lamp sought by collectors. Advertisements in 1914 claimed the lamp to be "the best lamp built" with "18 other advantages" but the short history of the Zar lamp and slow market acceptance of the lamp by the mining community may question those claims. After leaving the John Simmons Co. in 1913, the founder of carbide mining lamps Frederic Baldwin formed the Zar Manufacturing Co. in New York City. By an agreement sometime in the 1914-15 timeframe, Baldwin patented and manufactured his new Zar lamp while Simmons continued to produce and market the familiar hour-glass shaped Baldwin lamp. By the end of 1917, the Zar Manufacturing Co. was already going out of business. Baldwin sold 17 of his lamp patents to Simmons which is interesting in that Simmons was already phasing out production of its carbide lamps while buying the patents. Production of the Zar lamp lasted but a couple years. Three marked varieties of the Zar lamp are known, each selling for one dollar as advertised. The earliest marking was stamped BALCO NEW YORK, presumably for the Baldwin Company, on top and are quite rare. The next earliest style as shown here is marked ZAR NEW YORK in a small plaque on top with three patent dates on the left side of the tank. The later style (as shown elsewhere in my pics) is marked TRADE MARK NEW YORK in small incused letters with ZAR in large incused letters on the lamp top and six patent dates on both sides of the tank. In 1917, Simmons produced and advertised the very rare Hold-A-Lite lamp (shown elsewhere in my pics) with a similar appearance to the Zar. However, the Hold-A-Lite appears to have had a very short production life. See Bohannan, Mining Artifact Collector #16, pp 20-25) CHECK OUT THE BALDWIN ZAR PATENTS IN THE FOLLOWING PICS

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