This stove was produced in Wichita for model year 1935 only. This is the first model Coleman made with the "modern" removable fuel tank with the generator mounted on top of the tank. It has a pinned shaft on the pump because for a few years Coleman seemed to be experimenting with the (presumably) cheaper check valve with a cork pip. As a result, there is no positive shut off if the check valve leaks. Some of these can be found with a replaced check valve/pump. Being a deluxe stove, it has the new Band-a-blu burner instead of the cast iron ringed burner. This stove has all of the original parts, including the oven rack, heat diffuser (shown sitting in the case), box and paperwork.
You say that this model of stove was made in 1935 and I am sure you are correct. However, they will have continued to be sold into the next year. I have two 2G adverts from 1936. Here is one of them.
For the 1936 model year, the Coleman Jobbers catalog (with prices effective Jan. 1, 1936) shows the model 2H stove, which they had very likely been manufacturing since the fall of 1935. There were almost certainly older, unsold products still on retailers shelves into the next year and beyond, especially in smaller stores. Hardware advertising, such as the one you've shown, may have lagged behind what Coleman was producing, as it was likely expensive to update the printing plates every year for a minor change in model number. The dates on those ads can also be speculative. One prominent eBay seller of hardware catalog advertising pages has said that he sometimes has to try to date his catalogs from the car parts found inside. I have found some hardware advertising pages date claims to be off by a few years at times, this based on the Coleman products found on them.
Your comments about the hardware catalogue dates being not totally reliable are very true. I have a number of advertisement pages which are obviously incorrectly dated. The model 2H was certainly being sold in 1936. Publishers also often used old images. Here is an advert from 1936 for the 2H stove, using an incorrect image.
Here's one from Masback Hardware, also dated 1936, where the company apparently had given up on updating the image for a while and just struck the model number from the plate. When model numbers were changing yearly, even Coleman cut corners at times when printing catalogs and somewhat crudely (by our modern Photoshopping standards) modified their product images. [Hmmm...can't seem to upload the image...] In the early 70's, when the model 237 lantern went from nickel plated to a green painted finish, they just hand tinted the photo used from the year before.
Thanks for posting this. I picked up a project this morning and, thanks to your post, I can reasonably identify it. The stove is missing the shelf and heat diffuser. Also, the underlying paint appears to green, the second valve shut-off is a retractable key and, the fuel cap is not winged. It may have 3 layers of paint or it may be the original color is green. I wanted to ask if the stove you have is the original color. Thanks, David Moderators edit: Split to a topic of its own here.
