Hi, I have just acquired an Austrian Phoebus 30 stove. I have been fettling it over the past two days and thought that you might like to see some photos: The Phoebus 30 is a collapsible 1 pint stove fuelled with paraffin. It has a roarer burner. The stove is contained within an neat tin box with nice graphics. You can see that the spanner and cleaning needles are still with the stove. The engraving is as crisp as the day it was completed. The parking position for the reserve cap of this Phoebus stove is located on one of the feet assemblies of the stove. Rather novel I think. Best Regards, Kerophile
I have a 1934 Phoebus catalogue and this model does feature in it. I am unsure as to whether the Phoebus 30 was produced after WW2. Does anyone have any relevant information? Best Regards, Kerophile.
The Code name for the Phoebus No 30 in a box was Wena, whereas that of the Phoebus No. 38 in a box was Wanes. All the main stove Manufacturers seemed to give their stoves and lanterns code names in the years up to WW2. I guess it was to save on Telegram word charges when placing an order in the days before the Internet! The reserve cap on the Phoebus 30 is interesting. It has a screw fitting and a rubber sealing washer. The upstand on top of the tank is threaded internally for the reserve cap and externally for the riser tube which connects to the burner. Aren't stoves fascinating? Regards, Kerophile.
Not visible (to me) on the pics, but probably Arabic, like so many stoves from that period? Apparantly that was for some reason a market important enough to warrant specific inscription.
Hi Jur, I was referring to the lettering in the "Ribbon" on the tin, rather than on the stove itself. If you look at the second photo in the series I posted you will see the tin lid quite clearly. It looks Chinese? or Japanese?. It is certainly not Arabic or Ancient Turkish or Sefa would have provided the translation. Best Regards, Kerophile.
Good Morning, Kerophile, and All, This morning, I sent a PM to Steelman, who is from Taiwan. I copied him a photo of your wonderful Phoebus tin, and asked him if it was possible that he might be able to translate the characters on the tin's ribbon. Hopefully, he will be able to do so. I've asked, if he can translate the graphics, to please post that information here, in this thread. I hope he can help you in this regard. You have a wonderful stove there, George, and like always, it's a true pleasure to see the love, devotion, and attention to detail you give your stoves!!!! Take care, and God Bless! Evry Good Wish, Doc Mark
Hi, Thanks to the CCS "Brotherhood" I have the following information from Rob Vagasky. 1. He believes the writing on my stove box is in Chinese and he hopes to get a translation. 2. He said the writing in the "Ribbon" on the lid on his Phoebus 30 is different, and has sent me an image: I think there might be three languages here. The one on the left looks to be Arabic, the centre one appears to Cyrillic and could be aimed at the Russian market. Do we have Chinese on the right? Thanks Rob! Best Regards, Kerophile.
Do we know if the Greeks used this type of stove? Is it possible that the letters in the center are Greek? As Phoebus is Austrian, and as the Germans would have taken their trade to Greese when they went traveling (conquering) might they not have also takeen stoves to use in this endever? Just some questions i'm wondering about. lance
Hi Lance, You are correct in saying that the inscription could be Greek since they also use the Cyrillic alphabet. However, Russia was a massive market for Paraffin Pressure stoves and it is far more likely to be Russian. I asked my daughter, who is studying Russian at University, for a translation. Here is part of her reply: "Firstly, I have never seen Cyrillic in Comic Sans MS before. Bizzare. The text reads "Feus" - no 'b', but it must be their translation of Phoebus (they will probably have gone back to their original version of whoever the guy is in Greek mythology)........." Phoebus Apollo was the Sun God in Greek mythology. She says she will come back to me if she can get a translation of the Arabic script from one of her friends. Best Regards, Kerophile.
The Greeks use the Greek alphabet, not the Cyrillic. Cyrillic letters are based upon the Greek; some are the same, some are modified, and some are quite different, having been invented to account for sounds present in Slavic languages. The word in question is not Greek, the letter that looks like a curved backwards E being the giveaway. That is a Cyrillic-only letter; the others are Greek enough. Don't know what the word means, though. Sts. Cyrill and Methodius, often called "the apostles to the Slavs" are credited with the invention of Cyrillic, though the case is more complex.
Hi, My daughter's friend ( of Syrian extraction) provided the following translation of the Arabic lettering on "Evil's" Phoebus 30 stove: "It says 'Fulus' (pronounce 'fooloos') and i shall have to see if my dictionary gives me any associated words when i get home" Fulus is sometimes used in the context of "Money" in Arabic I believe. All we need now is the Chinese translation. Regards, Kerophile.
HI!All~~ The Chinese translation is "Shanghai German business firms ,company name is Tailai just a Trading company name best regard!
Hi Steelman, thank you for the translation. It is very useful to have a member of CCS who speaks Chinese. This is Kerophile's Phoebus 30 stove and I believe this is the one you provided the translation for: I also posted a photo of a Phoebus 30 belonging to Rob Vagasky. This model has three languages, including Chinese? in the "ribbon". Please can you tell us what this writing says, if it is Chinese? Thank you, Best Regards, George
George, the Cyrillic may also be "fooloos", because the first letter is an F and the YC would be transliterated from Cyrillic to Latin letters as US. I don't know enough to transliterate the other letters.
Thanks Steelman, ( and Doc who contacted you). Your translation is very useful. Best Regards, Kerophile.
Hi, my daughter, Aimee, is visiting her aged father at home at the moment and has had another look at the Russian lettering on Rob Vagasky's Phoebus 30 tin: Sorry guys! I believe that the third letter has been tarnished, removing the crossbar of the cyrillic "b" (I won't write it here as it won't decode properly on most people's machines). It wasn't obvious on my screen, but now that I see the photo here, I think I can make out the faded portion. It certainly makes more sense that way. The Russian part, logically enough, now reads "Febus."
This Phoebus No.30 didn’t make it to the Reference Gallery: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/sad-tale-of-phoebus-no-30.32401/ Best Regards, Kerophile.
