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Object Story: Toy Lamps
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Oil lamps have been used for centuries. The earliest oil lamps would burn animal fat and were often very smoky and put out very little light. The quest for a brighter, cleaner fuel to create artificial light has been an important part of the nineteenth century. Up to the early part of the 1800s, very few improvements had been made around lighting. One major change in lighting was the use of whale oil.
Boston & Sandwich Glass Co. (American, founded 1825), Toy lamp, Sandwich, Massachusetts, ca. 1828, free-blown glass and tin. Gift of Jonathan and Karin Fielding, 2016.25.88.1
These are called “toy lamps” (toy because they are smaller than normal) and burned whale oil. They were made by the Sandwich Glass company in Massachusetts. The glassworks was well known for their ability to mass produce glass. At first all of their glass was hand blown, but later one of their workmen invented a machine to mold the glass into different shapes. Early lamps like these were simple in design and came with a brass or pewter cap to hold the wick.
Whale oil lamps were in use from the 1780s to around the 1860s. Over time many lamps were converted from whale oil to kerosene or camphine and eventually to electricity. Whale oil was extremely popular because it burned cleanly, brightly, and lasted longer than candles or other oil. The widespread use and demand for whale oil led to a huge increase in the demand for whale blubber and ultimately caused environmental problems and drove many species of whale to the brink of extinction.
William John Huggins (artist and publisher), Edward Duncan (engraver) South Sea Whale Fishery, 1834, hand colored engraving. | Prints and Ephemera, Huntington Digital Library
Indigenous communities had used whale blubber to make oil for thousands of years. They hunted and harvested it for their own use and used all parts of the animal. It was Europeans, and later Americans, who made it a commercial industry. The whale industry, spurred on by the need for lighting oil, was one of America’s first ventures in natural resource extraction. The demand for oil and other whale-based products would set the stage for future fossil fuel dependence and commercial exploitation of land and sea.
Prior to the Civil War, American whale hunters harvested an estimated 10,000 whales per year. Whale populations simply could not sustain healthy numbers. They started to disappear rapidly. Meanwhile, hunters invented better harpoons and navigation equipment to find them. Certain species started to face extinction. In fact, most whale populations have still not recovered to this day.
Louis Garneray (artist), Frederic Martens (engraver), Goupil & Vibert (printer and publisher), Pêche de la Baleine. Whale-Fishery, approximately 1835, hand colored mezzotint. | Prints and Ephemera, Huntington Digital Library
As whale species declined, the price of the whale oil increased and it was obvious that a new source of fuel for lamps was needed. That need shifted the resources extraction to lumber products to produce camphine. Millions of trees were harvested leaving some land without shelter for animals and the ability to moderate the environment for both humans and animals.
Questions for Discussion
- What purpose might each of these types of lighting serve and what it would be like without it?
- Who are the people who might have access to this kind of lighting?
- How might the availability of light affect what you are able to do and when?
Suggested Activities
- Thinking about lighting, whether natural or artificial, is not something that we consider very often! Have students brainstorm all the sources of light that we currently rely on. Do a quick inventory of all the sources of light in your home or classroom. This might include natural sources like the sun (and the moon), as well as electric lights such as overhead lights in a room, desk lamps, streetlights, night lights, emergency lights, flashlights, and car head lights. Don’t forget other sources of light like candles and lanterns. Then, think about the eighteenth century and early nineteenth century (between about 1700-1850). Which of those sources of light existed? Make a list and think about what role each of those lights serve. Are they to provide general light in the room? Do they help you with a specific task? Could you do your work without it?
- Chart the hours of light in a day. Using scientific charts that show the sunrise and sunset each day, calculate the amount of daylight available.
- Experiment with lighting—consider measuring different types of lighting output. Select a variety of light sources and use a light meter to measure the lumens and lux each source puts out.
