Maybe the date isn't absolutely certain, but according to the anniversary book from B.A.Hjorth, the early stoves without any name was made before Hjorth took over the sales in 1892. This stove is unmarked except for the tank lid which says: "F.W.Lindqvist, Stockholm" in circular text, and "Patent No 394" in the center. It may be a mis-stamp of 3944 which is Svenson's and Lindqvist's patent for that very burner, dated feb. 1892. On the first picture I borrowed the cast-iron pan ring and the flame ring from another old Primus, just to give it a more complete look. Maybe the original pan ring was combined with the flame ring as seen in the "Kosmopolis-book". The air release screw is unmarked, and a little bit crude, just as the burner. Notice especially that the latter is all flat on the top, and lacks any hexagonal piece to tighten it to the riser tube, just as the early burner in the patent drawings. And here we also can see how the first NRV's looked like! The spring is still good. The seal is a cubical piece of cork that's seated against a conical outlet protruding from the bottom part of the pump tube. This is prior the patent from 1896 of Lindqvist with the nowadays more wellknown NRV screwed into the bottom of the pump tube from the outside. Most of you can't read that Swedish text in the patent, but in the description, Lindqvist points out that it will be cheaper to produce a stove that don't have this complex construction you must have when the entire pump tube has to be removed in order to be able to service the NRV. It is also another part that has to be sealed. The last picture is just to show that the rim of the tank not is folded around the bottom plate. It's very fascinating to think that it's not unlikely that F.W. Lindqvist actually has made this little gem since he made the stoves himself up til 1892!
Nice Christer! Very interesting information that you have presented here. I'm sure you remember this one I posted quite a while back: https://classiccampstoves.com/posts/76370 It has the same NRV apparatus as yours and the round burner base. Perhaps it is one of the first Hjorth exports to America? Your thoughts on dates? Thanks for showing your old stove. Best, Gary
Gary, now when you directed me to it, I actually do remember your post. I missed it when I was comparing stoves earlier today before posting my stove. Yours should be in the reference section so it's easily found! (Edit: I can see that it has been moved to the ref. now.) Your stove has the early NRV, so I guess it is a fair assumption to make that it's prior the 1896 years patent of the new NRV. Another indication of this is that the text 'Primus' doesn't have the picture of a stove tucked in between Pri and mus, as Ross pointed out in this recent topic. But it also has the "modern" shape of the tank! Earlier I asked when this bulgier tank was introduced (no answer this far). Since you have the "new" tank, but the old NRV and the text Primus without any stove in the center, it would make sense to assume that this change of design actually took place as early as the years before 1896. In 1892 the stoves looked like the one I posted here, with a much more plain look. But the company expanded in 1893, and bought new machinery. It's a wild guess, but perhaps they got new stamping tools in that event, and gave the stoves the design we generally associate with the classic Primus stove today, which would put your stove in the interval 1893-1896. Just guessing here, but it's plausible. But we should also remember that Primus in the USA is a special affair. I'm not sure where, but I've read somewhere that the stoves in America actually was produced there. Atleast at some times. And if you browse the catalogues, you can see that many stoves in the US-catalogues also has a design of their own, so it's not certain you can apply knowledge from the Swedish Primus to the early ones in the states.
Interesting reading Christer. One of the original Primus and to think that it most likely was made by F.W.Lindqvist himself. One can almost feel his spirit when you look at the workmanship. Nice to see.Cheers, John
Fantastic stove Christer! After your earlier post I was going to post that I was looking forward to the day when someone found & posted this early one on the site! Mine looks to be the model after Gary's but still pre 1896. The rim of the tank is simple like yours but the later shape like Gary's. The pump is different as it has a hex nut but it does have the same NRV (similar to the early US made one I have but that has the springs on the outer two posts instead of the central one). Mine also has a Hjorth stamping under the tank near the rim & the model number on the top - No:1 Suddenly we have a clearer picture of the variants in the first 5 years!
Hi Christer, lovely stove. I still find it amazing that the essential design elements and appearance of the the classic "Primus" stove was fixed so early, and has lasted to the preent day. Is it a case of "Form through Function"? Thanks for posting. Best Regards, Kerophile.
Take a look at the production graphs at the bottom of this article to see how rare this is. https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/10335
Thanks for your comments everyone. Wow! That's a fantastic coincidence. I missed the US-stove you have in the gallery when I was looking after other old Primus stoves before I posted my two last. I was just checking "regular" No1's. That one is just fantastic. It seems like all American made Primus has a different shape, correct? Then I guess Garys is a Swedish made stove since it has the Swedish shape, and then probably from the absolute first period of export to the US. In the 25 year jubilee they say that the first export was to Norway followed by Russia and Germany, all in 1893. US export isn't mentioned among these first countries, so perhaps not earlier than 1894? I agree in all you say! And it's not only the design. All details has been unaltered throughout the decades, well even for a century. I can take a pump from any Swedish stove (of this size) regardless which decade it was made and mount directly on this pioneer stove. Everythig fits; from the pumpleather, the length of the rod and the threads for the cap. This also goes for the other parts; air release screw, tanklid, gasket, and jet. This was truly a ready product from the very beginning. Indeed. Makes me feel quite lucky that I was able to get my hands on it. The graph is leveled out at the very bottom. The scale is very coarse on the y-axis, but in the same document they say that the total amount of stoves produced in 1892 was 1204 pieces. It must be much fewer than that made the year before since all production was made by Lindqvist himself, with just some help from his brother now and then.
I had this old veteran going this week. The pump tube didn't seal properly against the threads in the tank so I turned a temporary seal out of a piece of PTFE for now if you wonder what the white thing is between the tank and the tube. I will make a proper one out of copper later, and anneal it. Apart from that, all needed was a new pump leather and the seal for the tank lid. The old one was made out of cork, but I took a regular rubber seal instead. Surprisingly enough, the NRV still worked flawlessly! It's a drag to take pictures of stoves and lamps this time of the year since it never gets dark! That's the reason why you can spot a towel hanged over the window even if it was close to eleven in the evening. If you want to hear the roar from the 19:th century, you got a poor video clip here. The flame pattern isn't perfect, but that's hardly to be expected with old stuff like this. I don't know how old the jet is, but I'm sure it has been around for quite a while...
