Early Mantles and their boxes over time

There are a lot of pictures on this page, expect a long load time
My thanks to John Whitehead who provided many of the pictures used on this page.

Pictures of Lox-On Mantles

Unmounted Mantles

Unmounted mantles were used in several early brands of Mantle lamps.   The best known to Aladdin enthusiasts are the Practicus burners. They were also used more recently on burners like the Eugeos (manufactured by Ehrich & Graetz), the Coleman Ker-O-Lite and Candesco burners.

The mantle shown below was sold by the Connecticut Trading Company (CONTRACO) for the early Practicus burner.

 

Unmounted mantles for the Candesco burner used in the 1930's.

 

Cap Mantle:

The Cap mantle used with the Aladdin model 1 & 2 were a vast improvement of the earlier adjustable hang man shape hanger  The mantle now came premounted on an inverted U shaped frame that is attached to a base.  The base slid down over the cone in the gallery providing much better centring of the cone and minimized hand contact with the mantle fabric.  Cap mantles were also used on Beacon model 1, Kim, Sunlight, early Sunbeam burners and late CONTRACO burners among others.

Aladdin Cap mantles were sold in white or uncoloured (bare carboard) boxes with blue print.  Early mantles were sold in round boxes and later ones in rectangular boxes. I am not sure when production of the cap mantle ended.  It appears in the 1922 price list and is absent when the lox-on mantles were introduced in 1928.  If Any one can help narrow down the year cap mantles were discontinued I would appreciate an email.  Also if you have any idea of when Aladdin went from the round box to the rectangular box.

From a 1920 Supplies & Extra parts order form

The Cap mantle shown above appears to be a hybrid of a cap mantle base with a newish wire frame and bag attached.   Cap mantles were discontinued in the mid 1920's and most collectors consider the few surviving unburned examples to be to rare and too valuable to burn.   The solution is to remove the support wire off a used cap mantle  frame and fit a new wire support and new mantle bag to the Cap mantle base.   This allows you to burn model 1 and 2 lamps at the cost of modern mantles.  Of course you need to find an old cap mantle base first.

KoneKap Mantle:

The KoneKap mantle eliminated the problem of aligning the mantle correctly with the gallery cone by moving the cone from the gallery to the mantle frame.  This insured correct alignment and was a vast improvement on earlier mantle mounting methods. KoneKap mantles were used on Aladdin lamps from late model 2 through model 11 and are still available new today from The Aladdin Mantle Lamp company.

The KoneKap mantle introduced for the model 3 lamp came packaged in a cardboard cylinder that was orange in colour. This strongly contrasted with the white packaging used for Aladdin Cap mantles.  This sharp contrast in packaging was likely to keep people from confusing the two and saved possible damage from people opening boxes to see which was which. Instruction label on the side of the box reads: "Do not touch mantle. Remove from box and adjust on burner gallery by wire support, carefully turning to the right until the KoneKap is securely locked under catches on each side of the gallery." "If the mantle does not hang central over the KoneKap, carefully bend the wire into position so mantle will hang central.  Then burn the coating off mantle by lighting the top.  Replace chimney in the gallery, light the wick and proceed in accordance with Aladdin Lamp directions"

Note that all later package labeling said to light the mantle from the bottom.

Box bottom, top and top with lid and cotton removed. First Kone-kap mantle style.

Instruction label on top of box reads "Caution Cut the label at the lower edge of the cover .  Pick off the cotton very carefully, then remove the paper tray and pull mantle from can by taking hold of the wire support.  Do not touch mantle or allow it to touch the sides of the can.  Read the directions on the side of the can before using"

Presumably starting with the model 4, KoneKap mantles were packaged in mahogany coloured boxes with a simulated wood grain.  Early KoneKap mantles were still packaged in round boxes then later in rectangular boxes.

Early 4" tall rectangular box left, both sides of round KoneKap mantle right. Thanks to Jim Dodson for the pictures

Instructions on top of box " Do Not Touch Mantle CAUTION" "Remove the cover and pick off the cotton very carefully, then remove the paper tray and pull mantle rom the can by taking hold of the wire support.  Do not touch mantle or allow it to touch the sides of the can." "Read directions on the side of the can before using"

The rectangular boxes were likely introduced with the model 6 lamp and came in at least two heights.  The earlier one is 4 inches tall and the later one 4-1/4 inches high. The rectangular box allowed a cardboard top mantle frame support that did not require a wad of cotton to keep it in place.

The KoneKap mantle on the left is earlier than the one on the right. Note the original frame style was still was used in early rectangular boxes.

The best I have been able to date the mantles pictured above so far is between 1915 and 1932. The box on the left is 4 inches tall.  The one on the right is 4-1/4 inches tall which is the same height as the later red and black boxes.  Note the frame mount at the base of the cones.  I believe the one on the left is the original mounting style but the frame rod is the second frame style.

This KoneKap mantle is the same as the later version pictured above and is in a different mahogany box. As best as I can tell this mantle dates between 1932 and 1946. I think it most likely to be a 1930's box.

These are a pair of UK KoneKap mantles.  The mantle construction appears to be the same but the box labeling has changed.

These mantles were manufactured sometime between 1919 and 1940.  I'm guessing that the one on the left is the older of the two since the packaging on the right was used both before and after 1940.

According to John Whitehead two different quality levels of KoneKap mantles were sold in the UK. The ones with pink mantles, like those shown above, were the high quality version.  Ones with white mantles were less expensive economy versions.

According to John, the purchase tax was introduced in 1940.  So prices printed after that date have "Plus Tax" added to the back of the price.   That makes the picture to the right to be a 1940 or newer UK mahogany KoneKap Mantle box.

The first of the non-mahogany KoneKap mantle boxes.  Printed on the side is a 1938 patent date.  So these boxes appear to be from the 1938 through 1946 time frame. If anyone has better dates on the packaging I would love to hear from you.

This UK KoneKap mantle dates from sometime between 1946 and 1964.  I strongly suspect it is much closer to the 1964 date.   Once again any help with dating the packaging would be appreciated. Notice that Aladdin UK marketing did not think it worth mentioning UK model 8, 9 & 10 lamps.  I suspect this is because they were sold in much smaller numbers than the UK model 11.

The logo on the packaging dates this mantle in the 1970 to 1980 time frame. These mantles are made in Brazil.

Welsbach was a popular aftermarket manufacturer of mantles for both the KoneKap and Lox-On styles.  The labeling indicates this was manufactured sometime after 1928.