Well received Bill and thank you, THIS is a catalog drift, I hope we do not post numerous comments on this drift it is actually quite worthy of a tutorial, hint hint, so if so inspired please do start a another thread re the reading & comprehension of stove catalogs (chock full of gotchas... and the best info out there!). re "Catalogs somewhat the same because models not yet quite in production were sometimes listed, so dating by catalog may need a good knowledge of the particular company and their practices." The underlined portion is why I post. That and earlier comment that models were advertised before they were manufactured. These 2 scenarios, I am confident are far more rare than the common occurrence of outdated (inaccurate) illustrations being used (the reverse of what is mentioned). So with the above catalog scenario repeated w/o explaining the reverse, I felt, the overall tendencies of catalogs was missed. Note too: Take in account if illustration is used (vs later, photos used). Also as Bill points out re catalogs gain a "...knowledge of the particular company and their practices." I expect there are fellow members that share idea that manufacturer catalogs, incl. parts lists, are very good, often the best source. It is extremely helpful if you can become somewhat familiar w/that company's catalogs. NOS examples and dated ads also very important. With that, there are often years (decade even) where good supportive detail is absent, such was the case for this op. thx omc
I'm currently in the Whitsunday Islands on a cruise ship so I find it difficult to post. I just wanted to explain that I understand and believe that catalogues, parts list etc are extremely important research tools that afford tremendous information. The point I was trying to make earlier is whilst it's acknowledged that newspaper advertisements can be erroneous and inaccurate, it doesn't seem to me that the same infallibilities are thought of in regards to catalogues when in fact they should be.
@Tony Press Tony, To be fair to you and other sceptics I'd like to relate a problem I've encountered in the last few days. I for some reason found myself reading the history of Albert Lea Gas Light Co and Brite Lite Company. I decided to try and piece together some of the missing information. I normally only research those companies that I own a lamp of but on this occasion I was a bit bored and thought it would be a fairly simple process so despite not owning a lamp from these companies, I dived in. Firstly, I'd seen an article on CCF, written by a bloke, a newspaper journalist, that was doing some research for the Lamp Guild. To see how others compared to his version I found and read the companies history as described by other researchers and they all pretty much said the same thing. All the researchers claimed that Soren K Swenson, the owner of Albert Lea Gas Light Co, died in 1914. So, it was much to my surprise when I found a newspaper article written in 1925 that said that Soren K Swenson - proprietor of Albert Lea Gas Light Co - was present at his mothers funeral. The article I found stating that Mr Swenson attended the funeral was very convincing because the author said that all nine of Mrs Swenson surviving sons and daughters attended the funeral. The author then named the sons and daughters and their occupations. It was obvious to me that the author had done research within the family for otherwise, how would he know all Mrs Swenson's children's names and occupations? He couldn't possibly, 11 years after his death, just happen to guess Mrs Swenson had a son named Soren K Swenson and he was the proprietor of Albert Lea Gas Light Co. Someone in the family must have told him. The fact he knew Mrs Swenson had 9 children survive to adulthood out of the 12 children she had galvanised my contention the author must have spoken to the family to get his information - yet still got it wrong - as you yourself pointed out that reporters can do. I spent the next 4 hours just trying to figure out if Soren K Swenson died of typhoid fever in 1914 or attended his mothers funeral in 1925. Eventually, I decided it was correct that Soren K Swenson died in 1914 and only attended his mothers funeral in 'spirit'. So, on the basis that the newspaper journalist that first announced Soren K Swenson died in 1914, was correct, the rest of his history that has filtered down as fact to collectors would also be correct. From what I have found, researching Soren K Swenson, I have to say that much of the rest of his history of Albert Lea Gas Light Co and the Brite Lite Company looks to be very shaky and quite incorrect in some areas. I think the notion that AGM bought out Albert Lea Gas Light Co is a complete fallacy. I am finding it very hard to prove other areas of his history version and am being very 'sceptical', without prejudice, at this time.
I'm not familiar with this at all, but might it be possible that the Soren K. Swenson who died in 1914 had a son, also named Soren K. Swenson, who attended his mother's (i.e. the older Soren's wife) funeral in 1925? Perhaps he inherited the job, as well as the name. Some of us do bear the same name as our father. ....Arch
@ArchMc What you say can happen is exactly right. That's why it took me 4 hours trying to determine things like if there were two Soren K Swenson's of the same period, an uncle a brother a son - his own father etc. I first thought the reported death in 1914 may have been Soren K Swenson's son or father rather than he himself. I had to then find if Soren had children and if so was one of them named Soren. The same can be said of the funeral 11 years later. It was possible that the reporter thought that Mrs Swenson's grand son was her son. Neither of the scenerios proved to be correct as Soren didn't have a son named Soren nor was Soren's father named Soren. Confusing isn't it.
Thanks for clearing it up. It is strange to find two seemingly authoritative sources that tell different stories. ....Arch
@Matty did the article relating to the mother's funeral give her name? A quick search of ancestry has thrown up multiple Soren K Swensons one of whom died in feb 1914 and another that was born in Jan 1914. Both in Freeborn County, Minn. I also found a 1905 state census that showed a travelling salesman who was born in Norway. The US 1910 census give the SK Swenson of our interest (president of a gas light co) who's age is consistent with the 1905 local headcount but born in Minnesota. Regards John
@Jeopardy Hello John, thanks for your interest. Yes, the article does mention Soren's mothers name as Kristi. I believe the 'K' in Soren's name stood for Kristian if that is of help. I did see that there was a Soren K Swenson born in 1914 but according to Mr Neil McRae Soren's sons names were Roger & Robert. The article stated that the funeral was being delayed because Soren's brother, whom was the United States Envoy to Norway, had returned to Norway a week earlier and they were waiting to hear if he would be returning for the funeral. That sort of detail in the article, obviously the journalist had done extensive interviews with someone within the family, made me believe it was most likely the 1914 reports of Soren's death were wrong. In the end, it was the jhournalist that was wrong, Soren was indeed dead at the time of his mothers death.
I thought I may as well place this Brite Lite stove ad here. I can't find mention of a Brite Lite stove on this forum or anywhere else for that matter. I'm guessing that is a good indication that few people realise that Brite Lite Co did at least one stove.
All, Actually not sure I want to bump this, it is ALOT to absorb as-is but I might "wrap-up" some of it. There is a lot, including a pg 4 surprise: Albert Lea Gas Light / Brite Lite connection including Brite Lite *Stove c1910 - **1917 **thank you matty, absent your ad I had found only lamp and c1910 (the *stove made an impression!). On prev. page a Tony compliment "To all involved: this has been (and may continue to be) a very interesting thread and a lesson in "collective research". ... I have found the progress to the conclusions so far extremely illuminating. [aside comment / a helpful note] ... A great piece of work, folks. Tony, Myself and "all involved" are thankful for your compliment and advice. Detail above establishes the ALF / AGM connection did not occur as it had been previously described, done. RE: A. What happened to ALF camp stove (ie Tourist) production 1925 and later? Search as we may, as mentioned earlier, ALF camp stoves details have proven to be elusive. Absent new found detail, ALF camp stove production ended pre1926 for reason(s) unknown, as of this post/date, that is also done. A2. Was there possible ALF / early Coleman suit case connection? Credit CH Bill , there is no connection. Researching patents and dating he found nothing to support any such connection. Furthermore, a closer look at size of cases and the complex (and quite different) case hinges rules out idea the Tourist was copied, done. thx omc tag @Tony Press @Matty @cottage hill bill @shagratork
I realize this is an older post but I came across some info I had filed away, that I received in 2006 from the Albert Lea Public Library. One of the documents was "Early Albert Lea Manufacturers" written in 1949. Here are some excerpts from that document; "The Queen Stove Works had its beginning as a tractor manufacturing company in about the year 1914. Next it became the Albert Lea Foundry in the year of 1921, manufacturing gray iron castings." "In 1930 the foundry started making the gasoline stoves and the name of Queen Stove Works was taken. During the war, the plant output was devoted to making burners for army field ranges, with oil heaters and split timber rings also being made. The end of the war has seen some curtailment of employment, but the plant has expanded its interest by building the Almco Deburring plant here with some 37,000 feet of floor space." "Now in it's fifty-third year, the American Gas Machine company saw 98% of it's products go to war agencies during the war years. For the armed forces, the company manufacture gasoline fire units for field ranges, gasoline lanterns, a ski stove and space heaters for engineers. The American Gas Machine today is manufacturing space heaters, water heaters, furnaces, gasoline stoves and lanterns, portable ice boxes and machines for making ice cubes in quantity." "Founded in 1896 by H.C. Hanson, the American Gas Machine has held close to manufacturing of home lighting, cooking and heating facilities. It developed a system of gasoline widely used in homes prior to the coming of electricity. Camp stoves and portable gasoline lanterns were also developed by the firm."
OLD THREAD (2017) all, and well received, with respect, thank you @Straushaus, This topic has been very difficult deep-dive research for years, the reliable details were elusive and or difficult to parse. re source? for (B.) "One of the documents was [1949] "Early Albert Lea Manufacturers"". It seems to me the source document is not accurate and, unchecked, would be a source for continued confusion on-topic . I'm sorry, but need to bring context (to B.) and recap (A.). A & B are conflicted KEY details within this thread and I defer to "A.". As we consider this new input (B.): B. "In 1930 the foundry started making the gasoline stoves and the name of Queen Stove Works was taken." A significant reason to doubt "B." is: Above we've established that ALF was manufacturing camp stoves in the 1920s. that ^^^ ----- and the quote gives impression, that ALF (Albert Lea Foundry, maker of Albert Lea Tourist camp stove) BECAME Queen Stove Works. "A." (from above) debunks that as well A. Being careful how i include AGM (& also "despite... ownership"). I concur QSW, AGM & ALF remained independent companies up to and including the year(tbd) that ALF offered their last camp stove, late 20s? (incl rebadged examples). 8450 views !! tags: RIP Trevor, cc & thx again @Matty @Tony Press @cottage hill bill
