Hi all, found this forum after having acquired a Primus 1084 and now wanting to know a little more about it. It's been in my family cabin for years, but have not seen any use for probably the last 40. And judging by the condition it can't have been used much back in the days either. Is it possible to date if from the attached photos? I know that it's against the rules to ask for a valuation - but is it allowed to ask what I should/should not do with the lamp if I decide I want to sell it at some point? Like cleaning/polishing/testing, etc?
That looks like a nice example of a 1084 and it is always a bonus to have the box and accessories. AR is the date code and it stands for 1952. I would like to think you could get it working and keep it as a piece of family history, but if you decide to sell it is fair enough. Not everyone appreciated these lamps like we do on this forum. Looking at the condition it is in now, I wouldn't do anything to it before selling. You have a couple of options. You could put an ad on the forum here or you can try ebay. I would expect ebay would get you the best price. Of course you could always send me a message as I would be interested. Unfortunately I don't have as deep pockets as other buyers.
I have to agree with Nils. You should keep this lantern as a piece of your family history. There's nothing like a good light up with a lantern in the evening. If you do decide to sell it would be appreciated if you will try to sell it to a collector first before listing your lantern on eBay.
Hi and welcome to the forum from the Scottish Highlands. I agree with the above, it’s a piece of your family history. Think of the moments that lamp has witnessed, the people lit by its glow....
How on earth can you make that distinction between a collector, and who is not? My guess is that lamps DO go to collectors anyway when auctioned on Ebay. No 'investors' yet, if ever it will get that far. As for the condition, Rasmus, I agree with Nils, so do not touch it. This is a lovely lamp and so complete it seems. To satisfy some members - like me - perhaps you can make some more nice pictures of it, and it's accesories before you will use it, or sell it? You can upoad these pictures into the Gallery, a special section on this site. Either way, good luck with this lamp! Regards, Mike
Hi all! Thank you for the welcomes and the replies! I will take some more photos of it when I get the chance, for the gallery. I get what you all are saying regarding keeping the lamp in the family, and I would absolutely agree if it was a case where it had seen a lot of use, had stories connected to it etc. I found the lamp when we did an extensive tiding up recently, I had never seen it before, and my parents could not recall it either. But from what we can gather it was probably bought by my grandfather at the start of the 80's, (how he got an already 30 year old lamp then I have no idea, could have been in storage for all that time I guess?) and it was used only a few times when they were building a boathouse. (It was found with another pressure lamp, in much worse condition, that apparently was on loan to my grandfather by a neighbor. My father could remember that it was loaned for building this boathouse. The owner has passed away many years ago, but the family will get the lamp back if they wish it. I will try snagging some photos of it.) After that is was put in the box and forgotten. So no one in my family has any real ties to it. Of course I could probably make it shine again and then maybe it would be used a couple of times, but I believe it would most likely be forgotten again, or even end up in bad shape. So I'm leaning more and more towards selling it, that way it will hopefully end up in the hands of someone who would appreciate it more.
I see your clearheaded reasoning Rasmus, and I agree that someone else probabely would enjoy it more then. If Dollars, GBP's or Yen are not your ultimate goal, or if auctioning on worldwide, anglo Ebay (the only practical venue I am aware of) is simply not your thing, then perhaps you could get in touch with someone who will expose and share this lamp in detail more than you could or want to. I do not think such a change of custody would have to be on a give-away basis, and the higher prizes one can only assume will only be a fact if someone is actually paying you and will not pester you afterwards within 2 months. I have by now experience on Ebay that not all is always rosy and easy peasy. By selecting a new caretaker like here on this site you stand the chance to have a look at your lamp by returning here - now that you have found the way - and read up on it. No guarantees, mind, but most items I sold into this world tend to disappear. That would be unfortunate in case of this lamp with this very attractive package. Clearly, I back-track on what I wrote in response to what Norman did suggest and I have come to share his point of view as a distinct possibility. Regards, Mike
