A very early Primus No.4, almost certainly from the launch year of 1898. The 2 key identifying features to support this assertion are the filler cap and the tank base provenance mark. To take the filler cap first, this sports the plain 'B.A.HJORTH & Co. STOCKHOLM' indicating that this pre-dates the incorporation of the company and addition of the designation 'AKT.BOL.' into the inscription in 1899. Then, as for the tank base provenance mark, this is the most remarkable feature. It is the old crescent shaped form: This is most remarkable in that the latest verifiable date known for the use of this mark on a stove before the discovery of this No.4 was 1897. The first Primus silent burner, the larger, 2 pint, Primus No.6, was first launched in 1897 and all known examples have this same provenance mark, so that date is secure. The assignation of the 1898 date to this No.4 will be returned to below. Another original feature of this stove include the Lindqvist Patent pump tube cap as would be expected: To return to the 1898 date issue the question of why 1898 and not 1897 comes down to documentation. Some new Primus models, including the 1897 silent No.6, were launched with great fanfares of publicity (q.v.). But this was not the case with the No.4, the earliest documentation we have for the No.4 is simply when it begins to appear in B.A.Hjorth's general adverts, and the first of these which feature it are all in 1898. The earliest such advert that I have been able to locate dates to 20th March 1898 in a journal 'Sundsvallsposten' where it is listed alongside the '0', a similar set of adverts appeared later in the year too, in late December to catch the Christmas buying spree. Note also how the 2-pint silent had now been renumbered as No.5 instead of the No.6 designation used the year before. An interesting follow on question arising from the above is how far into 1898 did the use of this old base stamp extend before it was finally supplanted by the more familiar round provenance mark? ('Stockholmstidningen' 21st Dec.1898) @Rangie @OMC
@igh371 Fabulous stove in outstanding condition . Your research and documentation of these early days is extremely important and very much appreciated . You are doing sterling work . I have never seen the seperate lid on the outer cap before. When did the company go over to the familiar one-piece outer cup ? The illustrations on the advertisements show the lower-positioned , shallow spirit cups . Are the illustrations simply reproduced from earlier publications ? Thank you for sharing your knowledge . Alastair
Lovely stove, I have one of these in the to do pile missing the outer burner cap, I made a cap for it but it does not burn well, i will have to dig it out and compare. Time has passed..... here it is, I already had photos saved.
@Kiwi NZ, nice stove Looks like it should have a date code on the base, probably somewhere close to WW1? Ian
Hi @AAC You asked about silent burner designs for No.4 stoves: Primus No.4 silent burners. Best Regards, Kerophile.
I too very much appreciate the continued research/progress! re "An interesting follow on question arising from the above is how far into 1898 did the use of this old base stamp extend before it was finally supplanted by the more familiar round provenance mark?" My impression, the majority of examples we've drawn from are 2 pinters. I point out this is smaller model (between the 1 and 2 pinters). I would be open to possibility these examples (this size) may not have made that change in lock step with the 2 pinters. @igh371
It would certainly be the case that slower selling models, not necessarily related to size, would need less frequent replenishment of component stocks and so could end up using older formats for longer. In this case then the question would be how long might the initial launch production run have lasted before a new batch was required? Ian
