Oilwick Lamps

W. S. Co. LSide | W. S. CO - Only known example of tin face lamp marked on bottom in oval W. S. Co. WASHINGTON C. H. OHIO, shown in 1991 Vol. II of Dotty Haynes Miner’s Oil Wick Lamps, 2 1/4 in. high to lid, 1 3/4 in. base dia., double spout with wick, ex-Tony Moon collection [There are 3 known oil wick lamps with Ohio markings: privately labeled Tracy Wells Co. Columbus Ohio on both Tunnessen Crown (marked on bottom) and Trethaway lamps (marked on font); Ohio Valley; and by far the rarest W. S. Co. Washington C. H. Ohio as shown here. I grew up around 25 miles from Washington Court House and had no idea that a company in the town had a marked wick lamp. Surprisingly to me, the official name of the town up until 2002 was Washington but maps and other location information from the mid-1800s always referred to the town as Washington Court House. I had noticed the W. S. Co. lamp in Dotty Haynes 1991 “Vol. II of the Illustrated Glossary of Miner’s Oil Wick Lamps” but the marking was not noted elsewhere. As these things go, the lamp that was illustrated in her book actually was in the collection of my good friend Tony Moon, having resided there for over 20 years. After some serious begging and whining, he generously allowed me to extract the lamp from his collection. The mystery of the marking then became my research challenge. Hours of google time looking for hits on W. S. Co. led nowhere. Finally with some help from Poppy Girton, library director of the Carnegie Public Library in Washington C. H. and the library’s city directories, a light was lit at the end of the tunnel. I’m now quite certain that the marking is for the Wonder Stove Co. of Washington C. H. In B. E. Kelley's book "Down Through the Golden Years," he notes that an area of land on Delaware Street near the railroad tracks in Washington C. H. was developed by Powell Crosley, Sr., in about 1880. It’s interesting to note that Crosley’s son Powel Jr. grew up in Cincinnati and went on to found the Crosley Radio Corporation empire, the largest radio manufacturer in the world, as well as the owner of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. One of the buildings in the development was occupied in the mid to late 1880s and became the factory of the newly started company The Wonder Stove Co. They manufactured stoves, ranges, foundry hardware, galvanized tanks, ovens, kettles and various metal wares. By the mid-1890s, the name was changed to the Wonder Manufacturing Co. By 1901 the company’s annual output was $25,000 employing 60 men full time. For the town’s population of around 5700 in 1900, the company was a major employer. In Feb. 1913 the company was reorganized and incorporated at the same location as the New Wonder Stove Company by E. L. Bush, C. A. Reid, Frank H. Kennedy, W. B. Rogers and J. M. Willis. Reid became the company president and Bush, vice president. The next available city directory of 1924 no longer lists the company. As for the lamp, the question is whether the company purchased the lamp from a known maker and privately labeled it or more likely, manufactured it themselves. The company was making metal wares and certainly had the capability to make it. Judging by the brass hinge attachment for the lid, unlike any other known maker, I think the lamps were made by the Wonder Stove Co. Washington C. H. is located some 50 to 75 miles west and north of the Ohio coal fields. Considering the company name change to Wonder Manufacturing in the mid-1890s, the lamp was probably made in the late 1880s to early 1890s. The company produced a number of products and I suspect they thought there was a potential market for their lamps in the nearby coal fields. Since this is the only known example, their plan was apparently unsuccessful and very few were made. A 1969 local newspaper clipping notes the two-story brick building which served as a factory for the Wonder Stove Co. was torn down to make room for a modern new building. Such is history.]

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