35th Eastern Lighting Collectors' Meet Report - April 4th, 5th, and 6th 2013, Somerset PA
The 35th Eastern Lighting Collectors' Meet, hosted by Tom Small and Tom Millman, was held at the Quality Inn of Somerset, PA with 147 collectors attending the event.
The Rushlight Club was well represented with about 20 Club members attending the show. The event was marked by a number of new attendees, as well as the return of some individuals who had not visited the meet for several years. Reports of room and lamp show sales were very good.
It is something of a tradition that people bring interesting items to show in the Somerset hospitality room the evening before the lamp show. Dan and Nancy Mattausch brought and burned a P. Baker, Feb. 6, 1872 patent model, four rope-wick kerosene burner. Heinz and Ursula Baumann brought a large 1851 Webb patent solar lamp which Heinz burned at the dinner table on Saturday. This solar lamp is expected to be the subject of an upcoming Rushlight article. Thanks to Tom and Linda Millman, who hosted the hospitality suite, the tables were well stocked with good things to eat and drink.
The Rushlight Club had a table at the show, providing information about the Club and the benefits of membership. The Club attracted three new members and sold several books during the show. The Club also donated several lighting books and tote bags as show door prizes, joining items donated by Bill Courter, the Aladdin Mantle Lamp Company (AMLC), and many others. Dick O'Connell won the major prize, a cobalt-blue "Alexandria" model mantle lamp, donated by the AMLC.
Saturday evening program presenters Tom Small and Jim Christner have been researching the people and companies involved with the introduction, manufacture, and sales of kerosene mantle lamps in the U.S. during the early 1900s. The seminar shared some of their research, tracing the Practicus mantle lamp to the company that imported the lamps from Germany. Supporting documentation exhibited included a Practicus sales case with a lot of original paper, a lamp, and the accessories that came with it.
The 36th Eastern Lighting Collector's Meet has been scheduled for April 3rd-5th, 2014, again at the Quality Inn of Somerset, Pa.
The Rushlight Club Inc. www.rushlight.org