New guy here with a questions about a lantern I just came by. Started collecting lanterns/stoves last year, Coleman’s are what I mostly come across here in the States, and really don’t know very much about European lanterns. Have read a little about the Aida/Petromax/Geniol/Hipolito lineage and it seems that when production moved to Portugal, Petromax’s and Hipolito’s were produced. It seems like they may have also produced a few Aida’s there as well. I came across this Aida lantern in Florida. It had belonged to a Federal Marshall, who ran security at the Kennedy Space Center. His son was uncertain when it was purchased, but his father opened it once to inspect the contents and put away in a storage facility. Members of the family were made aware of where it and other items were stored in the event of a power outage/hurricane. On the outside of the box it has two $99.95 (expensive when compared with Coleman’s back in the 1980’s) stickers affixed and a small “Made in Portugal” placed over Germany on the label. I don’t speak Portuguese, but a portion of the original packing tape is visible underneath some clear packing tape used to seal the box at some point afterwards. It seems to be complete, having never opened a New-in-the Box Aida before, I can’t comment if there is anything missing. It came with pre-heat cup installed. The last Aida I had was from 1969 and it didn’t have one. Another note, the month/year/day convention seems to have been abandoned; there are no markings on the bottom of the fount to denote when it was “Born”? The instructions are in four languages, again not sure if this was standard for German instructions? The lantern has stamping with “Made in Germany” all over it, yet seems to have been produced in Portugal. Does anyone have any idea how long the production run lasted for Hipolito production Aida’s? Thanks, Tryggvi
What I do know that this is even more proof that Federal Marshals are SMART! Beautiful find from the marshal's closet!
Welcome aboard! I'm not sure about the production dates, but someone will know, the link below shows the Aida page on this website, Jeff. http://www.classicpressurelamps.com/forum/showgallery.php?fid/38/
In 1975 when Petromax stopped production in Germany and started to have them made in Portugal both Petromax and Aida brands were owned by Graetz and both brands were made in Portugal by Hipolito until about the early 1990s. Hard to date these other than generally most are 1980s. ::Neil::
