Oilwick Lamps/D D Williams Patent Marking

Oilwick Lamps

D D Williams Patent Marking.JPG - SMALL D D WILLIAMS PATENT MARKED LAMP - Surveyor style tin lamp with brass shoulder and fuel fill cap, 5 1/4 in. tall to top of burner tube, 1 9/16 in. base dia., lightly marked in a circular pattern on font PATENTED Dd D WILLIAMS JAN. 10, 1882 [Patent No. 252,284 was filed on Aug. 16, 1881 and issued to David D. Williams of Wilkes-Barre, PA on Jan. 10, 1882. This is the only patent issued for this style lamp whose basic features of a side-opening fuel fill tube and cap, removable screw-threaded side handle that also serves as a wick tube cover, and side hook have been copied by other makers such as Trethaway Bros. and William Tunnessen's Crown lamps. David D. Williams was born in Wales and immigrated to the US in 1869. He shows up in the 1870 US Census living in Wilkes-Barre and employed as a miner. By the 1880 Census, he’s married with 3 children and working as a mine fire boss. In 1900 he is still living in Wilkes-Barre and employed as a mine foreman. There is no record of him or his family living in Wilkes-Barre in the 1910 Census. His letter patent for the oilwick lamp commonly referred to as a surveyor lamp in the collecting community has two main claims. First, the lamp is equipped with a screw-on cap to cover the burner tube when carried in a pocket and second, the cap can be screwed on the side of the font for use as a handle. Such a Williams patent lamp in copper is shown elsewhere in my pics. In this case, the lamp shown here does not include either of these features. Patent markings seemed to be an effective marketing tool for lamp sales. J. W. Patten & Co. of Wilkes-Barre made the Williams patent lamps. Some Williams lamps are also marked with the circular Patten marking. Patten also made the Smythe patent lamps shown elsewhere in my pics. As noted, the Trethaway Brothers also located in Wilkes-Barre made surveyor style lamps, one example very similar to the lamp shown here. However the Trethaway lamp’s font is 1/4 in. shorter in height and has a different base and burner tube. Marked surveyor lamps manufactured by both Trethaway and Crown far outnumber the quantity of Williams marked patent lamps suggesting a short production life for the Williams lamps.]

D D Williams Patent Marking | SMALL D D WILLIAMS PATENT MARKED LAMP - Surveyor style tin lamp with brass shoulder and fuel fill cap, 5 1/4 in. tall to top of burner tube, 1 9/16 in. base dia., lightly marked in a circular pattern on font PATENTED Dd D WILLIAMS JAN. 10, 1882 [Patent No. 252,284 was filed on Aug. 16, 1881 and issued to David D. Williams of Wilkes-Barre, PA on Jan. 10, 1882. This is the only patent issued for this style lamp whose basic features of a side-opening fuel fill tube and cap, removable screw-threaded side handle that also serves as a wick tube cover, and side hook have been copied by other makers such as Trethaway Bros. and William Tunnessen's Crown lamps. David D. Williams was born in Wales and immigrated to the US in 1869. He shows up in the 1870 US Census living in Wilkes-Barre and employed as a miner. By the 1880 Census, he’s married with 3 children and working as a mine fire boss. In 1900 he is still living in Wilkes-Barre and employed as a mine foreman. There is no record of him or his family living in Wilkes-Barre in the 1910 Census. His letter patent for the oilwick lamp commonly referred to as a surveyor lamp in the collecting community has two main claims. First, the lamp is equipped with a screw-on cap to cover the burner tube when carried in a pocket and second, the cap can be screwed on the side of the font for use as a handle. Such a Williams patent lamp in copper is shown elsewhere in my pics. In this case, the lamp shown here does not include either of these features. Patent markings seemed to be an effective marketing tool for lamp sales. J. W. Patten & Co. of Wilkes-Barre made the Williams patent lamps. Some Williams lamps are also marked with the circular Patten marking. Patten also made the Smythe patent lamps shown elsewhere in my pics. As noted, the Trethaway Brothers also located in Wilkes-Barre made surveyor style lamps, one example very similar to the lamp shown here. However the Trethaway lamp’s font is 1/4 in. shorter in height and has a different base and burner tube. Marked surveyor lamps manufactured by both Trethaway and Crown far outnumber the quantity of Williams marked patent lamps suggesting a short production life for the Williams lamps.]

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