My dating of this Primus No. 215 of between 1905 and 1910 is based on currently available Primus manufacturer catalogue information in the SRL, which is documented and discussed further on in this post. I am keeping the appearance of the stove’s patina in exactly the same condition as when I first acquired the stove. The only exception to this was the cleaning a central area of the stove base in order to be able to ascertain if there were any stampings (date stamp etc) present or not. And so the only other work undertaken was a mild soap wash of the tank, the fitting a new Viton filler cap seal and Viton pip in the NRV. The pump cup seal only required re-oiling to revive it back into a working condition. The No.215 roarer model (and its silent sibling, the No.216 - to which all of the following information is also applicable), has a capacity of 1.2 litres/2¼ pints and was called a ‘Travelling-Primus’ as it was designed to be used as the name implies, with the stove’s construction such that it could be dismantled in order to occupy as small a space as possible. Therefore, the No.215 never came with a trivet. Decorative filler cap. The ‘hard-as-nails’ remains of the filler cap seal. I carried out an endoscope check of the tank - pump tube and fuel pickup pipe shown in this picture (these actually appear much clearer on the endoscope’s own screen than the picture taken of the screen shown here). Reserve cap in its ‘parked’ position on the stove. Pressure release screw - plain on both sides. More pictures to follow…
No date stamp present. Slight inner taper towards the end of each pot support leg. I very fortunately had this period-correct Primus cast iron trivet which needed ‘a home’ to go to. This stove could be purchased with or without the ‘Travelling-Primus’ tin box (made of ‘tinned sheet iron’) - as shown here in the ‘1903 Primus Catalogue’. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/1903-primus-catalogue.10198/ Posted by @Spiritburner - Courtesy of Arne Aasgaard This ‘Travelling-Primus’ tin box would appear to have been an available option for the No.215 throughout the stove’s (currently verified) production history. Two prices in Krona are shown in the 1903 catalogue, one for the stove with the tin box and one for just the stove. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/1903-primus-catalogue.10198/ Posted by @Spiritburner - Courtesy of Arne Aasgaard Pris kompl. med låda Kr. Price complete with box Kr. 11.35 (Kr) Price » å köp utan » » »when bought without » » 8.50 (Kr) In the ‘1911 Primus Catalogue’, a key (wrench) was then included with the No.215, to aid the fitting and removal of the burner. This key was supplied free of charge - see below. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/1911-primus-b-a-hjorth-no-205.51578/ Posted by @Christer Carlsson Original: ‘Nyckel att användas vid brännarrörets af- och påskruvning medlevereras gratis’. Translation: ‘Key to be used for unscrewing and screwing on the burner tube is supplied free of charge’. Primus manufacturing information used in dating my No.215: Following the excellent research work carried out by both @gieorgijewski and @igh371, @igh371 was able to confirm the following important information: ‘Aktiebolaget B A Hjorth & Co was incorporated as a joint stock company on April 21st 1899. A very precise point for beginning to date any documents or products displaying any version of the Akt.Bol. designation as being later than’. unfinished picture of B.A. Hjorth in 1892/1893 based on ads Posted by @igh371 Since my No.215 has the ‘AKTIEBOL. B.A. HJORTH & CO’ tank stamping, it can therefore be confirmed from the outset, that this stove was not manufactured before April 21st, 1899. From this point on, when I reference ‘PATENT’, I am referring to is this specific set of inscription stampings as a whole (as detailed in the above picture). The 1900 dated ‘Kerosene Stoves - Primus’ document is essentially an ‘instructions for use’ Primus guide and is where the No.215 model makes its first appearance. However, this ‘appearance’ is in numeric form only (see below) as unfortunately, there are no actual pictures of the stove itself. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/primus-1900-instructions.47869/ Posted by @igh371 With that being said, the No.16a model (‘Icke tystbrinnande’ = ‘Not silent burning’) highlighted in ‘red’ shown below which is detailed in the above 1900 Primus document, appears to be remarkably similar in overall design to the No.215 (with the exception of the fitted trivet and lack of ‘parked’ reserve cap on the right hand side of the tank). Note that the No.16a would appear to have a similar ‘PATENT’ stamping on the tank and no captive nut fitted to the riser tube. Interestingly, neither the No.16 (silent) nor the No.16a (roarer) models show up in the 1903 Primus Catalogue - which makes me wonder if Primus decided to cease production of both of these in favour of the No.215 (roarer) and No.216 (silent). Given the above information , I believe it is more than reasonable to suggest that the ‘PATENT’ stamping was likely applied to the No.215 at the start of its production in 1900. The ‘1903 Primus Catalogue’ shows a No.215 with the ‘PATENT’ stamp on the tank. Again, as in the aforementioned 1900 dated Primus document, there is still no captive nut shown as being fitted to the riser tube. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/1903-primus-catalogue.10198/ Posted by @Spiritburner - Courtesy of Arne Aasgaard. The ‘1905 Primus Catalogue’ shows a similar picture of the No.215 again with ‘PATENT’ stamped on the tank. However in this catalogue, for the first time, a captive nut is now shown being fitted to the riser tube. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/1905-primus-b-a-hjorth-no-51.30922/ Posted by @Christer Carlsson This in my opinion provides an important and valuable data point reference, since this means we can now reliably date a No.215 stove to pre-1905, if its original riser tube does not incorporate a captive nut. Moving now to the ‘1911 Primus Catalogue’, this shows a picture of the No.215 with ‘PATENT’ stamped on the tank. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/1911-primus-b-a-hjorth-no-205.51578/ Posted by @Christer Carlsson However, @igh371 ‘s Stove Reference Gallery posting of his 1911 (A) dated No.215, does not have the ‘PATENT’ stamping on the tank. In its place now, is a multi-lingual stamping in English, French, German, Spanish and Russian, ‘advertising’ the B.A. Hjorth & Co Primus brand to the ever-increasing Primus sales export market which at that point in time, had spanned out across Europe and beyond. Primus No.215 'A' 1911 Posted by @igh371 What this essentially confirms is that Primus likely dropped the ‘PATENT’ stamped No. 215 model at some point during production in 1911. Whilst we don’t currently have a 1912 Primus Catalogue in the Stove Reference Library (SRL) to refer to, the ‘1913 Primus Cooking Stoves & Utensils Catalogue’ clearly illustrates Primus having dropped the ‘PATENT’ stamping on the stove. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/1913-primus-cooking-stoves-utensils-catalogue.55712/ Posted by @gnome The ‘1917 Primus Catalogue No. 492’ is currently the last time (in the SRL) the No.215 model is listed. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/1917-primus-no-492.32573/ Posted by @Christer Carlsson There is then a current gap of four years in the SRL up until the ‘1922 Primus Catalogue No. 836’ posting - which then shows the No.215 stove is no longer being listed. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/1922-primus-catalogue-no-836.190/ Posted by @Archivist - Courtesy of Yutaka Suwabe Therefore, somewhere between 1918 and 1921, we can reasonably conclude that production of the No.215 stove ceased. Stove dating: Since my ‘PATENT’ stamped No.215 concurs with the 1905 Primus Catalogue, has a captive nut fitted to the riser tube and is a prior-1911 model due to it not having a date stamp on the bottom of the tank, this leads me to believe it was manufactured between 1905 and 1910. Thank you for staying with me throughout this ‘deep-dive’ of a post! Pharael.
Tremendous piece of analysis @Pharael. Confirmation of when the elaborate 'Patent' tank top legends were ended can be found elsewhere in the SRG. The Primus No.100 exists with the 1911 'A' date mark in both tank top legend forms. I think that pretty well conclusively pins 1911 down as the year the change was made.
Excellent @Pharael, a valuable comprehensive account. Fine stoves these early models with the tank mounted air release valves.
@Blackdog Many thanks for that. The old stoves have a unique special quality to them. A credit to their makers with many still operating as intended well over a hundred years later. Pharael.
Wow! Thank you for all the info and much research. Wish I could locate something this old. Never see them over here. Duane
@hikerduane Appreciate that. Thank you. There are a few posted in the SRG, but are not that common. Interesting to me that it’s manufacture life span was so long (18 to 21 years) given the fact that a ‘travelling’ No.100 was already in production at the same time…different strokes for different folks I guess. Pharael.
I have 19 stoves over 100 that I can confirm and another three maybe, just nothing into the late 1800's or real early 1900's. Duane
