I'm guessing this dates from around 1940/41. I have a 1942 model 300 but by then there was no pressure pip and the tank was steel. What always surprises me about these lanterns is the how heavy they are. Well-built for sure.
I don't think so but it occurs to me it has the solid collar introduced in 1944 not the slotted collar an early Vapalux should have. So possibly a later top on an earlier tank.
@Robert Radcliffe yeah quite possible, I'm never 100% sure with all the dates, pressure pip, no pressure pip, slotted collar etc and given the interchangeability of parts on these lamps its difficult to be 100%. I do have a soft spot for the 300. Do you know what colour it was originally?
Unfortunately not, bought in present condition. However being unpainted it has the advantage of passing the wife approval test - meaning it will be allowed to be on display in the house
@Robert Radcliffe yes I with you on that one, I know exactly what you mean.....I keep trying to seek more into the house but only certain ones get to stay.....
Yeah, slotted collar until 44 so this is a quandary. The hat doesn't look original either but hey, lovely lamp.
My other 300, dated 1942, also has a solid collar, so I suspect it was common for these lanterns to be made up of any available parts.
Most likely (IMO) one of the late 300s from 1945 ; W&B appear to have reintroduced brass frames and tanks as the war came towards it's end, and the pip slightly earlier(I have an all steel one with the pip which I'm pretty sure is early 45). I'd bet it was originally painted brown- there are several comparable ones in the reference gallery. The top looks suspiciously like a repurposed brass dish...
Ha ha I think you're right. It is much thinner and a slightly different colour. I think I'd better stick to stoves where I know what I'm doing (mostly). Anybody got a spare 300 hat?
Yes, probably a repurposed brass dish as has been said. It's quite common to find brass ashtrays in use as Tilley smoke deflectors. My KL80 has one, bearing a map of Devon IIRC so it's been some sort of holiday souvenir in a past life...
Nothing is more easy to exchange and mix than the ventilators on all W&B lamps. Any year stamped into the rim cannot be taken as gospel for the whole lamp therefore, which should meet some detailing specific for that year or period as well. This might have been te reason why brand and other information moved from the top of the lamp to the collar of the cage - once Aladdin Industries had a big say in development. You therefore will not find an E41 or 300 model with info on the collar untill the military alloy Bialaddin 305 re-emerged as a Vapalux M-1 in the late sixties. By then Aladdin had withdrawn, but W&B obviously felt it a good idea to continue, albeit for not much more than 10 years.
Addendum: albeit for not much more than 10 years when production of the M-1 ended late 70's. By then the Vapalux 320 was the only model left and accepted by the army. Lack of any solid identification on that model might have inspired W&B to come up with a nice brass conical ring at some point in time. Mounted around the control knob it stated all there was to know about this last model Vapalux.
