Greetings, Fellow Stovies, Recently, I saw what seemed like a rare stove, on the 'bay, and put in a bid on it. Wonder, of wonders, I won it! The seller was brand new, and only had one previous sale. But, after talking to him, I decided that I would take a chance, and tossed my bid out there. This very nice stove arrived yesterday, and the shipping time from Norway was super quick, and the seller did a grand job in packing the works, quite carefully. The tin is not perfect, but is pretty darned nice, nevertheless, and I'm a Happy Chappy about this stove, already. Here's what I got: I tried to snap a close-up of what's written here, but cannot make it out. Can any of our Swedish Stovies tell us what this says? Thanks!! As you can see, the bottom has no dating marks, at all, but there IS another sort of "Mark" seen here! But, I'll do my best to fettle this horrid display out of the reflection!!! This smashed tube is really the only bunged-up thing I can find, and I think I can take care of that, though attention to this, might not even be needed. Depends on how the stove fires up, and burns! A shot of the dimpled spirit cup. The cup is nickle-plated, as is the fuel tank. Neat! As you can see, the burner has been replaced at some time in the past history of this Emperor stove. No problem, at least to me, as I love Radius burners, and this one looks in good shape. The windscreen is made of steel, and though in need of cleaning, and maybe some high temperature black paint, it's in solid condition. The brass flame ring has a bend in it, that should come out easily. I think this is the original wrench, but maybe wiser Stovies can help me nail that down. I know next to nothing about these stoves, as there are so very few of them here on CCS. Hopefully, more information will come to hand, one day! The stove came with three different types of jet prickers: One set that seems to have no markings; one set that is marked, "Import"; and, one set from Radius, which I assume was added when the Radius burner was added to this stove. I wonder what happened to the original burner????? This stove arrived with two different sized flame rings. One is marked, "Radius", and quite obviously came along when the Radius burner was substituted for the original burner. The other is unmarked, and is a tad small in diameter than the Radius flame ring. That second one can be "forced" onto the Radius burner, but why would I want to do that? I believe that the second flame ring may be from the original burner. Can anyone who owns one of these #30's, with the original burner and flame ring, please measure the diameter of their flame ring, so I can compare it to the one I have? Thanks, in advance, for any help in this regard. Radius flame ring on the left, the slightly smaller on on the right. Both made of brass. Lastly, inside the case were two different types of paper: the parts had obviously been wrapped in a thin oiled paper, which may, or may not be original to the stove. Underneath everything were layers of quite heavy paper, with no oil added. I was excited, at first, because I hoped the heavier stock paper would turn out to be an original Emperor catalog, or instructions! Sadly, no..... it appears to have been put there to cushion the contents of the tin, a job which they do admirably. After returning everything to the tin, with the heavy paper on the bottom, I gently wrapped the thinner, oiled paper around the contents, as I closed the lid. Fit's well, and it, too, cushions the contents nicely! Thanks for checking this out, Gentlemen, and Ladies! If anyone has information on dating these stoves, I'd love to hear about it, or know where to find it here on CCS!! Comments, suggestions, or information will, as always, be happily welcomed!! Suffice it to say, I'm feel blessed and lucky to have been assigned the duties of being caretaker for this very nice, though very mysterious stove from Sweden!! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
Hi @Doc Mark . Smart stove. Lettering on tin seems to me to read: VASBY BLECKEMBALLAGEFABRIK UPPL VASBY. In English this would be: VASBY TINPLATE PACKAGING FACTORY. UPPLANDS VASBY Trust this helps, Best Regards, George
See also: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/emperor-tin-quite-lovely.30573/ https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/emperor-no-30.29507/ https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/emperor-no-30.10443/ Best Regards, Kerophile.
Congratulations Mark That is a nice one. I see that your tin is in better condition than mine. I'll check my tin tonight to see if I can find any text on the back of the lid. Bjørn
I wonder whether Optimus (Upplands Vasby) and the Emperor manufacturer both sourced their stove boxes from Vasby Blekembollagefabrik, (Upplands Vasby): Emperor: Optimus: From this thread: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/optimus-no-00l-1930-40s.952/
Hi @Doc Mark , come to think of it the case, windshield, folding stove feet, and dimpled spirit cup of this 1920s Optimus no 00 all look very similar to those from your Emperor 30: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/optimus-no-00l-1920s.951/ What do you reckon? Best Regards, Kerophile.
Greetings, Gentlemen! @Tony Press , @Haggis , @Metropolitantrout , @kerophile , @boknasild , Thank you all for your very nice comments!! George, as always, you are veritable gold mine of information, and I truly appreciate your comments, information, and guesses about my "new" Emperor stove. I agree that this stove looks VERY much like the 1920's Optimus!! I hint at the dating of these old stoves, maybe? I'm leading that way. I'll keep fishing for more information on the Emperor brand, but after seeing your link about the old Optimus, and after seeing your info on the tin box similarities between the two brands/stoves, I'm really thinking that there is very probably a strong tie, there! Thank you, also, George, for the link to the very nice Emperor tin! I've sent a note to the owner, and hope he still have it, and is still in the mood to sell it. I'd buy that one, and pass along the tin I have to another needy Emperor owner. Thanks, again, to one and all, and isn't CCS a wonderful place? Aren't stove fascinating!! (Hummmm.... I think I read that here, "someplace", before!) Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
@Doc Mark @kerophile Have checked my tin tonight. Tin is a bit rusted but I can see UPPL VASBY written on the back of the lid. Bjørn
Hi @boknasild Thank you for checking your Emperor stove case. It looks to have come from the same factory as @Doc Mark example. Before today I have never seen a stove case with more than just the stove Manufacturer’s name and details. I had always assumed that there must have been specialist suppliers of the Lada or cases used by stove makers, but had never seen any evidence. Recently I posted a query relating to a 1938 Swedish Patent for a Primus stove case, indicating the stove makers took a close interest in the packaging for their stoves https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/primus-no-96l-box-patent-sv-92594.39367/ Stove cases can be very distinctive and closley related to a particular manufacturer. I was therefore quite surprised when checking the Emperor case against other Swedish stove makers’ cases, to find the close similarity of early Optimus and Emperor cases. Best Regards, Kerophile.
@kerophile @Doc Mark Gentlemen Found this when googling for Väsby Bleckemballagefabrik. Here is my humble translation: Tinlate packaging factory was built by O. F. Hammargren. He began on a small scale working together with a co-worker to make dishes and buckets in "svart plåt" in the evenings. Someone suggested that he would start making tin boxes for the biscuit factory in Märsta. This proved to be a good idea and the company expanded. As early as 1925, there were 20-30 employees. The first factory was at the junction Kvarnvägen / Väsbyvägen. In 1940, a new large factory was built on Väsbyvägen. The operations moved from Väsby in the mid-1960s. Factory buildings are torn today [2010]. So Väsby Bleckemballagefabrikk moved from Väsby in 1965. Maybe our Swedish friend can tell what "svartplåt" is. Bjørn
Svartplåt means “blackplate”, as far as I can work out (but I am not Swedish!). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackplate Cheers Tony
@boknasild @Tony Press "Svartplåt" means "raw" sheet metal/sheet iron opposed to what they used for the tin boxes...tinplate.
Greetings, All, I am wondering if our new member @Staffan Rönn , might be able to shed some historical light on these Emperor stoves? Staffan, are you familiar with this brand, and if so, do they have a connection to Optimus? Our good friend, @kerophile , has posted a link which shows a 1920's Optimus 00, that's really very, very similar to the Emperor, or vice-versa. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/optimus-no-00l-1920s.951/ Any information, or thoughts about these stoves, will be greatly appreciated by myself, and by many others here at CCS! We're always seeking more information about stoves for which we have very little documentation!! Thank you, very much, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
