It was time to put this one out there for the world to see in a better light. I received this from a CCF stove seller, who was selling this stove for Joe Pagan. This stove is featured out at Terry Marsh's stove gallery. I was very lucky to be able to get this stove. It is very nicely restored. It has not been fired since restoration. This is one of the earliest Prentiss Wabers gasoline stoves made. It is a single burner that probably came out in 1922 or there abouts. I have an earlier one that I'll be posting as soon as I make the final fixes on the tank and finish the paint on it. The model is a number 4 and was apparently replaced by the double burner number 4 so there were two models numbered the same. The actual number '4' does not appear anywhere on this stove but has been verified by Joe and by catalogs and advertisement references, of which are not in my possession. Suffice it to say that I've seen references in early sporting goods advertisements that market the stove as a number 4. Here's one that shows the earlier No. 4 along with the No. 2. If you can read the text, they call the single burner a No. 4. Enjoy. sam
A very nice stove! Can we assume a painted brass tank? and does the pressure gauge work? I have the two-burner #4 - it's about 10 years older and it works great! willie
Well done there Sam what a superb score, I must say as well and what a beautiful restoration job it has had, and it is hard to believe it is 90 years old. Ten more years it will be a true antique, a really superb stove well above it's time.
A magnet sticks to the tank, so, steel tank. Don't know if the pressure gauge works. I think it does. I can get it to move just barely if I pump a lot of air into the tank. Not sure on that one. Hey Brian and Rick, thanks for your kind comments. It was sure a lucky strike. Been digging the old PW equipment. sam
Me thinks I should like to have this stove to do my morning coffee. Me thinks though, you might have other ideas as to how I can prepare my coffee. lance
Sam, so you were the one who won that stove on eBay!!! I did watch it with great interest. The actual story was that I had sold it on eBay a couple of years ago when I sold off my collection and Warren had bought it. He did offer it back to me before putting it up for sale but I couldn't afford it. That stove, when I originally bought it, was painted a pink metallic. Inside and out, fuel tank included. Pressure gauge had overspray on it and was missing the plastic window. I thoroughly stripped it of all paint save a small patch, which was a reddish brown, presumeably the original color and had that part custom matched. Also, the fuel tank did have a small spot of red paint, so I assumed it was originally red. This was before I knew very much about PW. Anyway, I used an old flashlight lens and cut it down to size to make a new face, took the gauge apart, cleaned and tested it. Yes, it does work. The stove paint that I had done was too red, come to find out but it was done. Actual color was called "rich mahogany brown". Took not quite a month to restore this stove but it does work just fine. Just be aware that the burner head acts as the generator so it requires a lot of preheating. As a footnote, from 1915 to 1921, the one burner PW stoves were designated Model 3. Starting in 1922 and ending in 1924, PW started using a skate key for fuel controls and introduced a larger 2-brnr stove with 8" grates. They called it a Model 3 and the 1-brnr was re-designated Model 4. Beginning in 1925, PW dropped the one burner completely, created a new economy model stove called the Model 4 using a wire grate with slightly different dimensions. At the same time, PW also made another model stove called the Model 5, based on the Model 2, which was a 2-brnr with 6" grates but instead, also used a wire grate with a wire warming shelf half way up the lid. The '25 models are ID'd due to the main fuel control mounted on the tank, using a standard round fuel knob, along with a generator while the auxiliary burners still used a skate key. Fuel control/generator/tank was mounted on the left. Sometime after, either beginning in 1926 or 1927, was when PW started mounting the fuel tank on the right and no longer used any skate key for the other burners instead, using a slide control valve, mounted in the manifold with a fold-up or hinged control rod. There were two versions of your Model 4. The earlier one had no legs, no top lid and the tank bracketry was or rather looked more beefy, using L-style brackets. The later version did have the top lid, strap legs and the tank brackets were inboard more, screwed into the stove body, like yours. To see what I mean, there is currently an early Model 4 1-brnr on eBay and you can see the differences between it and yours. Anyway, my congrats on obtaining this stove and I'm glad it went to someone who can appreciate it and give it a good home. Joe Pagan
Thanks Joe. I was hoping that you would chime in. You've provided a really nice history on these stoves. I've taken a liking to the old Prentiss Wabers and have quite a few of them and adding more as I go. I had wondered about the end of the single burner. Advertisements seem to end in 1923 or 24 or there abouts. I've seen advertisements dating back to 1915 and found them to depict a stove with a single burner but no tank, which looks as if the tank is inside the case and pump is then attached. On another one, there is a tube that extends from the tube that protrudes from the case into the air about 3 feet to what looks like a fuel tank. This looks to be what I reckon as the oldest design that I've never seen otherwise. Anyway, thanks for the post and especially for the stove. sam
Hi Sam: Yes, the advert showing the stove with a pipe and tank extending up above the stove is the first generation PW stoves. I do not know whether it was pressurized or gravity fed but that advert shows what looks like a valve that is inline. This would make it 1915, when PW opened their doors for business. Now, sometime in 1916, PW did place the fuel tank inside the back of the stove body, covered with what appears to be a heat shield. The fuel fill came out of the left side of the stove then angled up 90 degrees. It looks a lot like a street elbow, capped with the fuel cap/air stem combo. The air pump screwed into that air stem. I used to have the Model 2 of this version but at the time, I didn't know the vintage. I eventually sold it and I've regretted it ever since when I obtained more knowledge about PW. Now, sometime between 1918 to 1919, PW mounted the fuel tank externally on the left side of the stove body. Up to this time, PW stoves were using the wagon wheel style fuel control knobs, up through 1921. 1922-1924 were the skate key control stoves. On the 1918-1921 model stoves, PW went through a name change as well as a town location name change. Those two things will narrow down the age a bit on that style stove. Joe
Thanks Duane. Joe did a great job restoring this one. No complaints here. Maybe when it turns 100 years old, we'll fire it up. For now, it will remain a shelf king. Hey, Joe, I have the wagon wheel version of this stove. Doing a restore on it. Tank had some big holes in it, but are now closed. I was guessing the same years on it. Will post as soon as all the paint dries. sam
Hi Sam: When you do get your wagon wheel PW stove done, let me know exactly what the PW company name says on the name plate and in what town in Wisconsin. I can narrow the time frame down by a year or two. If it is a 1-brnr, it is a Model 3. Oh yeah, post pix too!
Hey, Joe, here's a pic showing the label and the wagon wheel control knob. The city is Wisconsin Rapids, WI, USA, so probably just before the stove above. I thought the No. 2 and 3 were double burner stoves. Hmmmm. Interesting. In the ad I found above it talks about the No. 3 being a double burner, while the No. 4 is a single. PW must have flopped around on their model numbers quite a bit. sam
Hi Sam: Looks like you are correct. Up till now, I had thought that the Model 3 2-brnr stove with 8" grates were introduced in 1922. Now that I see your copy of that advert, it does, indeed, look like the Model 3 2-brnr was introduced sooner. I had not known that. I'll have to update my notes. Thanks for that insight. As for your stove, it was made between August 4, 1920 to the end of its production run of 1921, even though your style stove was made from 1918, thereabouts, to the end of 1921. Remember, production run dates are not quite that cut and dried but for the sake of argument, it does make general dating that much easier.
Nice Joe. So, according to your dates, the other stove I have is over 90 years old. At the moment, it looks it. I'm hoping that I come close to a restore as the one in this post that you've done. I don't think I will, since I'm not good at paint, but it will be working when I'm done with it. Many thanks to you Joe for much of what you added to this post. I think Prentiss Wabers has an interesting history. I was wondering if you had seen this post: Prentiss Wabers Company History in 1943 It's an old article out of a Wisconsin Rapids newspaper from 1943. Thanks, sam
Yes, Sam, I did see that article through your link over a month ago. I had sent that link as well to Terry Marsh and another brother collector who also likes PW stuff as well. What caught my eye in that article was something I had long suspected but never had anything to back it up and that was that PW introduced lanterns in 1933. Up till now, I have come across documentation that 1934 was the earliest that lanterns were produced. So I was grateful to read that article. Anyway, back to your stove, yes, 90 plus years old is your stove. Just goes to show what real American made stuff was all about, especially in the early years. Built to last. As for painting skills, just do your best. That is all one can do. I would have the paint custom matched and done in spray cans in a lacquer. Much easier and forgiving to work with rather than enamel, in as much of a dust free environment as is possible, along with 1600 or 2000 wet/dry sandpaper to color sand and remove any dust or lint that may land on your paint job. Any other collector/restorers out there can always add to or edit what I said. There are many out there who are much better than I am and they all have their little methods of doing things. A good electric kitchen oven to cure the paint as well. That is what I do. Best of luck to you on your restoration and my humble thanks for correcting me on the model sequences. Joe Pagan
Here's some more background on the early Prentiss Wabers products invented by Edwin C. Moats: Moats Folding Stove Patent 1915 Advertisement of Moats Folding Stove and Prentiss Wabers Manufacture sam