Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Petromax



How many of you know or even remember this kind of lanterns?

I had not seen this kind of lanterns for a long while, so I felt somewhat nostalgic when I saw it at the Jatayu flea market recently.

Yes, it's the Petromax or lampu petromaks as we call it here. Not many people use them anymore these days. But in the old days when electricity was not as widely accessible as it is today, the Petromax was extensively used as the preferred lighting in the villages because it produces brighter light and consumes less fuel than the ordinary lanterns.

The Petromax was invented by Max Graetz (1851-1937), the President/CEO of the Ehrich & Graetz firm in Berlin, in the early 20th century. It is basically a pressure petroleum lamp, hence the name Petro (from the word petroleum) and Max (the name of the inventor).

5 comments:

Dina said...

I don't know these lamps. It's an interesting idea, petroleum under pressure. Were they pretty safe?

Anonymous said...

Pertamax for Petromax post :P

it's classic lantern and remind to my childhood. I used Petromax for Pramuka, so warm :)

damz said...

Haha, we used this kind of lamp in my grandma's house when I was a kid. Soon it's gonna be a collectible item I guess :)

amatamari© said...

Ohhhhhh!!! My grandmother had a lamp like this!
:-)
Magnificent shot, thanks for sharing!

Photo Cache said...

I remember those. I cannot remember what we call them other than "lampara" which is the Tagalog word for lamp.