Oilwick Lamps

T F Leonard High Spout | T. F. LEONARD HIGH SPOUT - Hard to find tin face lamp with high spout and brass collar, 2 5/8 in. tall to top of lid, 2 in. spout, marked T. F. LEONARD, SCRANTON, PA on font below spout, unusual in that marking is upside down, unfired condition [Thomas F. Leonard was an early lamp maker in Scranton, PA; a 1901 ad shown on the cover of Mining Artifact Collector #12 noted T. F. Leonard lamps have seamless brass collars and a brass hinge that won’t melt off, a solid lid with no soldering, six different sized spouts and a sample could be had for 10 cents. The Leonard family has three different markings on oil wick lamps. The Leonard brothers were born in Ireland and immigrated to the US in 1851 settling in the Scranton area. Bartley E. Leonard was born April 1842 and his brother Thomas F. Leonard was born in July 1843. Both Thomas and Bartley were trained as tinsmiths and the brothers opened a hardware business in Scranton in 1865. The 1880 Census lists Thomas as married to Dora and working as a hardware merchant in Scranton while Bartley is not listed in the Scranton area. However, a Leonard Brothers advertising postcard sold through ebay shows the brothers were in the oil wick business by the cancellation date of Sept. 30, 1882. It’s interesting to note that this advertising format was used for Leonard lamps over the next 20 years. The growth in the lamp business in this case is noted by the number of different sized spouts offered. The 1882 advertisement notes three different sized spouts while an 1891 advertisement for T. F. Leonard shows five different sized spouts. Finally a 1901 T. F. Leonard advertisement in Mines and Minerals offers six different sized spouts. The 1890 Census has both brothers living in Scranton, Bartley at 327 Madison Ave. and Thomas at 312 Quincy Ave. Both are listed in the hardware business. By 1900, Bartholomew has changed his business to that of tobacco manufacturer while Thomas has a hardware store located at 505 Lackawanna St. in Scranton. It would appear based on the 1891 advertisement, that T. F. Leonard and B. E. Leonard had dissolved their business partnership. Lamps marked with each brother’s name and Scranton, PA are thought to have originated during this period. By 1910, Bartley is no longer listed in the Pennsylvania Census. Thomas, now 67 years old, is married to Dorothy and living in Scranton along with his son Desmond, age 23. His hardware business was still quite active. It’s interesting to note that a newspaper ad in the Sept. 28, 1910 edition of The Scranton Truth pictures an early miner’s carbide lamp that is offered by the Thomas F. Leonard Company. This extremely rare lamp is shown in my Carbide Cap Lamp section. As wick lamps continued their downward market share in the early part of the 20th Century in favor of carbide lamps, at least three pioneer wick lamp makers attempted to enter the carbide lamp business. Thomas Leonard along with the Antons and Grier Bros. tried to make this transition. The Griers were quite successful. Unfortunately, both Leonard and John Anton seemed doomed from the start accounting for the rarity of the few lamps they produced and their popularity among collectors. Thomas died on April 25, 1922 at the age of 78 while still serving as president of his company.]

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