By Tom Poland
TomPoland.net
I inherited an old Bible, so old I can’t determine its age. I see my ancestors reading that Bible by the light of a my kerosene lamp.
The kerosene lamp, legendary for the destruction it caused. No cowboy scuffle was complete without a knocked over kerosene lamp. As the saloon burned, men fought and bullets flew. Legend holds that Mrs. Catherine O’Leary’s milk cow kicked over a kerosene lantern, igniting a barn fire that spread into the Great Chicago Fire. Legend only. Closer by, an overturned kerosene lamp burned a good portion of Mount Carmel, South Carolina, during its early years.
Aside from conflagrations, the kerosene lamp earned its place in history. You have to go back to the whaling days for the kerosene lamp’s origin. Early lamps burnt whale oil. In 1846, a fellow with a tongue-twister of a name developed a substitute for whale oil — kerosene. Other men share credit for the rise of kerosene lamps. A product derived from fossil fuels, kerosene became the lamp fuel of its day. (Kerosene was also known as paraffin.) In Appalachia, folks refer to kerosene lamps as coal oil lamps.
If you own a legendary kerosene lamp, your lamp takes its place in an evolution of lighting technology that led to today’s LEDs. I find the sooty old kerosene lamp to be more romantic than LED lamps. As I wrote above, I see my great grandparents reading that tattered old Bible by flickering kerosene lamplight, like a scene from an old movie.
Outside of antique shops I seldom see kerosene lamps anymore. My kerosene lamp, handed down from my mother’s side, still works, wick, kerosene, globe, and all. Sometimes I imagine my mother’s people crowded around a kerosene lamp having dinner. How useful that weak, wavering light must have been. No wonder kerosene lamps reigned throughout the 19th century, though serving as a definer of social classes. The wealthy enjoyed gas lighting; the poor had their kerosene lamps.
Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1879, still, only half the homes in the United States had electric power by 1925. Kerosene slowly faded over the course of several decades. As electric lighting caught on in rural areas it caused quite a commotion. I’ve written before about my Mom’s memory of the first light bulb.
“People would gather in a home with the newfangled light bulb hanging from a wire, sit in a circle, and stare at the naked bulb until pink eye set in.”
Travel the back roads and you’ll see evidence of the days when kerosene ruled. At some abandoned country stores, if you look closely you’ll see old kerosene pumps. Moreover you’ll see old homes that with kerosene tanks on supports.
Gone but not quite forgotten, the kerosene lamp goes back to the days of whaling. It brought light to a dark world. Though dim and dusky, the kerosene lamp gave old timers a whale of a light for which they were thankful. Whaling captains? Not so much. Thanks to kerosene they had to find new ways to make a living.
Pictured – Two old friends, the family Bible and the Kerosene Lamp. Photo by Elizabeth Poland Shugg
