Good afternoon all, I thought I'd introduce myself if I may - I hope this is an appropriate place to do so, but if not perhaps a mod would be kind enough to move the post? I'm Firelite and I've been using stoves for a while now as I do a bit of camping/bushcrafting. As a result of being quite well known for that sort of thing, I was asked by an acquaintance last week if I could identify a curious item he showed me. Trouble is, I don't know what it is for sure. I've taken some pictures, because I was hoping one of you guys might be able to provide some information so I can tell him for sure what it is. I think either a tent light or a small stove, but I mean small. Any Ideas please?
Surgical sterilizer ? Possible use in barbers ? Not enough heat for a stove . Nick. p.s..... welcome to CCS : - ))
Greetings, and welcome to CCS! I think that Nick has it pretty close, though a quick look through my barber books shows nothing like this, so far. I can check my antique medical instrument books a little later this afternoon, and see if something pops up. Always fun to try and solve such mysteries, but Nick is right, not too much heat from a little tyke like the one you showed, so very probably not a stove. Maybe a warmer for a chaffing dish??? Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
I suppose it fits inside the leather pouch shown in the photos? In that case, my vote goes to "small field steriliser for rural doctor or veterinarian"! Best regards and welcome on board, Wim
Interesting holes on the sides, looks as if the support legs fold down. Is there something missing. Coulld have been used by an office worker for sealing parchment or used by a veterinarian. The 90° angles can really be intriguing.
I'm not sure whether the leather case is original, or if they came together later on in their lives. the legs, or whatever they are, fold down. There's a screw thread around the wick position as if a lid/snuffer might have fitted on top, so there are certainly some parts missing. The owner says he believes it belonged to a military officer, but I don't know what regiment, so Surgical/veterinary/infantry/barbering are all possibilities. There are no maker's marks at all. Thank you for the feedback so far guys.
Greetings, I checked all my books on antique medical instruments, but unfortunately they are too slanted to the very early implements, and there's not much info on the later stuff. So far, I find nothing in the medical field that would support your item being used for sterilization, but later books might show such a thing. Does it have a round wick in the burner? I had a passing thought about it being used for soldering silver. In the old fashioned manner, the flame from such a device would be heated by adding a concentrated blast of air through a mouth operated blow pipe, which would allow the joining of very small, jewelry type items with silver solder. The actual lamps I've seen were glass balls with the wick attachment in the top opening. Just a grab at the brass ring, here, Mates, but maybe worth further investigation? Good luck, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
The stove looks quite the same I remember from my childhood. I saw something like it used by doctors to sterilize syringes. No disposable syringes in the fifties. Syringes were put disassembled in a small aluminium pan, in a special strainer with parts holder, and boiled in salty water. I remember I asked our doctor why not using our gas stove in the kitchen, and he told me that it was too strong, and bring the water to overboil, he told me also that in many rural houses they had no gas stove, so it was more practical to use the alcohol stove: a physician got anyway to have alcohol with him always. Orsoorso
What Oroorso says makes sense. The size would just be right for the needle part of a syringe or other small instruments like tweezers, suture needles etc. If this is the case I'd suspect a dedicated pan is missing based on the curious construction of the three supports. It seems at first glance to be overly complicated. Therefore my guess would be that the missing pan had slots on the outside of it where the upright tabs of the three supports located to make a stable set-up so the pan couldn't slip off the burner. There is no end support. So it appears that the pan and it's support would be set-up, the burner lit, and then slid underneath. Probably the reverse for extiguishing, negating as far as possible the opportunity to spill hot water all over the place on a home visit. I also wonder if perhaps there might originally been something like a cork mat to insulate the stove from whichever piece of the patient's furniture it was resting on? Cheers, Graham
There is a very similar stove on US e-Bay, ending today. It looks to be by the same manufacturer. http://www.ebay.com/itm/221151026503?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 Paul
Well, that at least solves the mystery of the leather case. It's identical in the one offered on fleabay so it's a safe bet that Firelite's acquaintance's set is in the correct case. There is an extra plate / stand in the second example so the speculation that the original set is incomplete appears to be well founded. Just a couple of observations to muddy the waters. Regards John
The plate may sit on top of the three clips and make a complete stove / sterilizer. In the next to the last photo in the e-Bay listing, you can see the side burner plate holders in the folded position / down position. Paul
Gentlemen and Ladies, I salute you all. Thank you all for taking the time to help. What a friendly and welcoming forum. Thanks again.
