Dominion Tubular Lamp Co.

The Dominion Tubular lantern of Montreal, to the best of my knowledge now, was part-owned by the Steam Gauge & Lantern Company. Half of the board members were located in Montreal, the other half were located in Syracuse. Formed in 1883, Dominion Tubular was one of the earliest lantern makers in Canada. All of their lanterns closely mirrored the Steam Gauge & Lantern Company designs until 1892, when Dominion Tubular came out with a “double tube” design. Dominion Tubular also made table lamps, angle lamps, street lamps and wall lamps in addition to their tubular lanterns.

An interesting point to note is that originally all Dominion Tubular lanterns came fitted with a R.E. Dietz Burner. I’m not sure why, maybe just the cheapest ones they could source? Later Dominion Tubular lanterns had modified Dietz burners. I’m not sure why if they were part-owned by Steam Gauge, why they would use SG&L burners.

Dominion Tubular’s main line of lanterns were named the “Safety Tubular”. Their catalogue mentions a safety locking system on the cone, however that wasn’t added on lanterns until the 1890’s. The first Safety Tubular’s had no such safety feature so I’m at a loss for why they mentioned a safety locking feature on lanterns that did not have them.

Dominion Tubular was bought out in 1896 by Walter Grose of the Ontario Lantern Co. Their line of tubular lanterns were transferred to Hamilton, Ontario where Ontario Lantern kept producing them for a short time. Just one year later, the Steam Gauge & Lantern Company was merged with Dietz.