Miller Student Lamp
Reference Desk Lamp Information Other Resources On-Line Shopping

The Lampworks LOGO
Purveyors of Antique Lighting and Accessories
435 Main Street  ~  Hurleyville, New York 12747

    >  Home
    >  About Us
    >  Contact Us
    >  Site Map


I.C. Bicycle Lantern I.C. Bicycle Lantern by Bristol Brass & Clock Company
Pat'd. April 13, 1897
Pat. No. 580,569
---------------------
Enlarge image [+]


Tally Ho The Tally Ho
The Bridgeport Gun Implement Company
ca. 1897 Pinback
---------------------
Enlarge image [+]


The Neverout The Neverout
by Rose Mfg. Co. Philadelphia, PA
E.M. Rosenbluth's
Pat. No. D27,862
Pat'd. Nov. 16, 1897
---------------------
Enlarge image [+]


The Neverout Four Models of Lamps
by Manhattan Brass
---------------------
Enlarge image [+]


    necessity, the mother of invention     
The Bicycle Lamp or Lantern
   

Early Bicycle with Bike Light Ladies Safety Bicycle, circa 1890, with headlamp.
Photo courtesy of Copake Auction Inc.
The invention of the "modern" bicycle dates to the mid-1800's and earlier, depending upon which source you consult. The early versions were called velocipedes and were propelled by the rider "walking" while seated on the wheeled vehicle. Many of the early designs were of European origin, the products of French, German and English ingenuity. Over the years, various improvements were made including steering, pneumatic tires, pedals and cranks, suspensions, gears, and other safety features. By the late 1800's, the form of the bicycle would be as readily recognizable as those manufactured today. As the bicycle gained popularity and became more affordable to the masses, so came the need for illumination for nighttime riding. They were most often fueled by kerosene or carbide/acetylene - our focus shall be on the former.

Search Light The ornate brass SEARCH LIGHT Bicycle Lamp
manufactured by The Bridgeport Brass Company.
Louis Hornberger's Pat. No. D28,080, Dec. 21, 1897.
Bicycle lamps were manufactured by most, if not all, of the major American lamp makers - Edward Miller & Company, The Plume and Atwood Manufacturing Company, The Matthews and Willard Manufacturing Company, The Hitchcock Lamp Company, The Bridgeport Brass Company, Bristol Brass and Clock, and certainly others. Many of the lantern makers made bicycle lamps as well - R.E. Dietz, Peter Gray, C.T. Ham, and The Rose Manufacturing Company, maker of the Neverout. English manufacturer Joseph Lucas & Sons of Birmingham, England produced a full line of bicycle lamps, as did Powell & Hammer and Henry Miller.

The basic, overall design of the bicycle lamps remained relatively standard. They consist of a lamp or lantern housing (most often brass and sometimes nickel-plated), removable fount and burner, front lens and reflector, and some type of bracket for attaching the lamp to the bicycle. Most have a convex lens on the front to focus and concentrate the light. On the back of the inside of the housing, there is often a polished metal reflector to increase light output. There are often green or red glass jewels on the side or back of the lamp which function as side (green) and rear (red) markers. You may find cotton wadding in the founts that was placed there to prevent the oil from sloshing around.

Plume and Atwood Ad Cover Plume and Atwood Mfg. Co. advertising cover
featuring the BANNER and JIM DANDY lamps

The bottom portion of the housing is vented to permit the intake of combustion air and top of the lamp is vented to dissipate heat and smoke. The brackets vary from fixed style mountings to more complex, multi-spring mechanisms designed to absorb shock. The lamps could be mounted to the front tube or on the fork, depending upon the type of bracket purchased. The SEARCH LIGHT above is shown with a rigid bracket, the UNIQUE below has a spring bracket.

Advertisements for bicycle lamps were commonly found in ladies magazines like Munsey's or The Cosmopolitan, trade journals and other publications of the period, especially in the late 1890's. The advertisement on the left from The Manhattan Brass Company features four models of bicycle lamps - the "Big Four" - DAZZLER, UNIQUE, FRONTLIGHT and CYCLOPS. Numerous patents were granted between the years of 1881 and the early 1900's. The hey-day of the kerosene bicycle lamp must have been during the years of 1896 through 1898 when nearly one hundred patents were granted.

The Unique The UNIQUE Bicycle Lamp, nickel plated,
by The Manhattan Brass Company.
J.M. Herman's #578,564 - Mar. 9, 1897
And D29,535, October 25, 1898.
Photo courtesy of Copake Auction Inc.

The most prolific American inventor of bicycle lamps appears to be William C. Homan with nine U.S. patents, all assigned to Edward Miller & Company. The majority of Homan's patents were for improvements in lamp brackets. Frank Rhind had six bicycle lamp patents, all assigned to The Bridgeport Brass Company. Three of his patent drawings depict variations of the SEARCH LIGHT (seen above). It should be noted that Frank Rhind had over eighty lighting patents over his illustrious career. John W. Bragger of Watertown, New York, has four bicycle lamp patents to his credit, all assigned to The Hitchcock Lamp Company between 1895 and 1898. The Hitchcock bike lamp bears his name, the BRAGGER, and is consistent with patent no. 597,385, issued on January 18, 1898. Bragger also patented the lamp made by Hitchcock known as THE HAPPY THOUGHT, October 1, 1895. Plume and Atwood's BANNER lamp, depicted on the left above, was patented by Lewis J. Atwood on July 13, 1897. His invention received patent number 586,348. Atwood had one other bike lamp patent and like Rhind, was instrumental in the development of kerosene lighting, having had nearly seventy lighting patents to his credit. See the patent table below for a list of bicycle lamp patents.

Lucas Bike Lamp THE KINGLET, circa 1896
Joseph Lucas LTD, Birmingham, England

Bicycle lamps came in a plethora of models to fit all budgets. Some were plain and economical, like Plume and Atwood's JIM DANDY which sold for about a dollar and a half. Others like The Bridgeport Brass Company's SEARCH LIGHT, were top-of-the-line, highly ornate models with high price tags. The SEARCH LIGHT sold for four dollars a piece in an 1899 catalog, the most expensive of over a dozen lamps advertised. These expensive models were often outside the means of the common working-class man.

Sales and marketing schemes were abundant and widespread, based upon the number of advertisements surviving today. Manufacturer's claims included wind and weather proof housings, lights that "won't jar out" due to shock or vibration, ease of disassembly and cleaning, and other claims intended to increase sales and profits. Edward Miller even branched out to include bicycle bells and a cyclometer - a device, like a vehicle odometer, to record the distance traveled.

Like everything else, the kerosene bicycle lamp faded into obscurity as it was replaced by safer and more modern battery operated lighting and dynamo-driven bicycle lighting systems.


    

   

Patents for Kerosene and Carbide Bicycle Lamps, 1881-1909.
D31182 250483 252371 264955 307511 368355 373911 436528
467227 478776 480210 480661 499440 520658 529885 533719
539626 540296 540605 541172 547200 547201 551082 551084
554009 554044 554863 557394 558142 559946 560110 560338
562319 564882 565156 565272 570893 570894 573148 575327
575717 575779 576769 577155 577429 577967 578014 578451
578564 579593 580569 580757 581503 581991 582978 583534
584054 584358 584613 584614 584679 585609 585885 586000
586348 588115 588460 588904 589459 589588 589953 590911
590919 591108 593016 593281 593396 594264 594517 595191
595576 597385 597933 598490 599088 599149 599525 600447
606974 607162 607544 608097 608403 609192 609193 609222
609689 614315 615244 623606 624267 626001 635366 639434
639853 650211 650854 656480 656874 660639 680413 688926
689747 696854 914259 520659
add'l patents will be added as discovered
D = Design Patent, RE = Reissue of an earlier Patent

To view any of the above patents, enter the number in the box below and select Query USPTO Database. This will take you to the specific patent images on the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office Database. Learn more about the USPTO here.

Enter Patent Number » 

  
    
Additional Reading
   
  • If you can locate copies, there are two excellent articles on Bicycle Oil Lamps in The Rushlight. Part I is in Volume 51, No. 3, September 1985; Part II is in Volume 51, No. 4, December 1985.



^ Top of Page

.

Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions of Use | Announcements

Copyright © 2001-2011 ~ Daniel Edminster | The Lampworks ~ All Rights Reserved