I bought a Preway/Sears 742 43 9 lantern off of a guy on CL today. The Coleman globe/chimney which came with it is cracked from top to bottom which is unfortunate, but I got to wondering what was original for these lanterns. Did they come with a mica chimney or Pyrex? Anybody know what was original?
I think you have a Sears Junior lantern which will be a Preway L47S or L14A. Both are Sears models 7439 in the PLC. They were sold between 1936 and 1939. For Sears they always had a glass globe but the direct sale Preway Junior had a mica globe as an option. I don't have a 742 439 listed. Sears model numbers are a problem because quite often the number on the lamps is not the same as the catalogue number. The PLC mostly records the catalogue model numbers only and it gets complicated. So I could do with a picture of the complete lamp and a shot of the label with the model details please. ::Neil::
The model number is 742-43-9. I wanted to upload a photo, but it doesn't appear to allow me to do that. Pretty sure this is not a junior. Nickel-plated fount and light green ventilator.
Thanks for the welcome. The 742 43 9 appears to be the Sears designation for the Preway L43 lantern. These numbers are stamped into the label. From photos on the web most have a mica chimney/globe. I can use a typical Pyrex chimney/globe when using, but if I go get one for this particular lantern I'd like to get close to original.
Interesting and useful. This is Sears model 7403 which was sold between Spring 1937 and Fall 1941 and always with a mica globe. The Preway model number was L43PM. Preway also sold the same lantern as model L43PH with a glass globe but that was never sold by Sears. Sears lamp model numbers are a problem. This is another example of the marking on the lamp being quite different to the catalogue model number. In order to ensure I recorded them all I have gone through all the Sears catalogues and listed all the pressure lamps they sold but to do so I had to use their catalogue model numbers. With a lot of lamps this is not so much of a problem because many were sold without any model number being marked on the lamps. The problems are with those lamps such as yours which are marked but with a different number to the catalogue number. This frequently leads to confusion and I know I have not yet found all the model numbers which may be marked on the lamps. I did have 742 43 and 742 431 noted for the green painted version of your lamp, which is Sears number 7404, but did not have 742 43 9 for the plated tank version. So they are all there in the PLC but working out what you have from the number on the lamp is a confusing search. ::Neil::
What is PLC, a catalog? It appears that the mica chimney would be the most original for this model. For the record and future use, here is a photo of the label with number:
@Steven Lave The PLC is the Pressure Lamp Catalogue, available here: https://classicpressurelamps.com/threads/the-plc-pressure-lamp-catalogue.13642/ Tony
I have an L43S-9, nickel plated font and green top, two mantle. Nice lantern but with no other identification. It's probably made by Preway, and the "S" might indicate Sears. There is no other identification labels on the lantern. The globe is a Coleman. It looks just like yours, except the numbers are not the same.
A Preway L43S-9 is a Montgomery Ward lantern and Wards model numbers are even more confusing than Sears. The Preway model is L43 with PM for the mica globe or PH for the glass globe. As a general rule if a PW lantern does not have the maker marked on then it is either Sears or Wards. It is interesting that in all the Preway Paper there is no mention of a nickel plated version of any of the lamps. The plated founts are only listed in the mail order catalogues. I can only speculate here but it does seem that the plated tanks were specials made for Sears or Wards. In PW paper from 1934 to 1940 there are only two twin mantle lamps listed:- L13 and L43 and four single mantle models:- L14, L44, L47PH and L47PM. All of them are listed as Green painted tanks with green vent hoods. There are two versions of L47 because the PM version will not accept the bulge globe so the globe cages and bail fittings are different in the two versions. So it seems to be pretty simple but they do appear to turn up with variations not in the catalogues so I suspect the paper we have is not the whole picture. Then the mail order model numbers are an additional nightmare of complications. ::Neil::
I tried going to the catalog link provided earlier but I don't have permissions. Is it possible that Preway made my lantern post war? The glass chimney/globe is definitely an old Coleman, but that could just as easily be a replacement. I contacted Fred Kuntz about a mica chimney and he seems to be familiar with them, stating that Preway and Akron used the same model mica chimney. In the late 1930s Coleman used Pyrex globes in the more expensive nickel-plated 242B, but used a mica chimney in the cheaper painted 243A of the same year. Could it be the same here? I just don't enough about Preway.
Preway Inc. as a company lasted up to 1987 but the last reference to a lantern is 1947 however that is an advert for Coleman, AGM and Preway lanterns and stoves so not specifically Preway. They were still making camp stoves to the early 1950s but I think their last year of lantern production was probably 1941. They did not make laterns for the USQM and they had lost the Sears contract in 1941. By the mid 1950s they were concentrating on electric appliances and were selling those through Sears in the 1950s and probably 1960s. All the evidence I have suggests lantern production was from 1934 to 1940. As they were making stoves into the 1950s they would certainly have been capable of making lanterns and may have done so but I have no evidence they did. ::Neil::
That's good information and difficult to find. I assumed Preway made CF lanterns for as long as they made stoves, but it appears they may have stopped by 1941. I learned something new. Thank you.
Well a lot of the info we have was hard won and we actually don't have a great deal on Preway lighting product. I have however found a deal of info on the company. In 1987 the Wisconsin Tribune published a pretty good history of the company and I have done a deal of genealogy research on the managers and owners. During WW2 they made bombs and fuses but restricted civilian products to stoves and heaters. Lanterns are not mentioned post war. There is a good write up of the company history in the PLC. ::Neil::
