1894-1904 B. Hinge

In the 1890s, E.T. Wright & Co. made 3 different types of hot blast lanterns, which they named the A. Hinge, B. Hinge, and C. Lift. This lantern is the B. Hinge. It differs from the A. model in that the hinge is based off a Circular wire around the top of the fount, connected at the rear of the fount and held in place by a brass clip at the front. The A. model however is hinged at the tubes, with “wings” as I call it, can’t think of a better name really. This model was made until around 1904, that’s at least the last year advertising appeared for the lantern. In 1894, E.T. Wright started using the ‘D’ shaped tubes, quite similar to C.T. Ham lanterns. He also received a patent for this lantern, which is nearly a copy of an earlier patent by George Fifield, an American. It’s quite possible Wright waited until Fifield’s patent expired and successfully rehashed his patent under his own name.

This lantern is in excellent condition with virtually no pitting or damage. Definitely one of the nicest hinge lanterns I’ve seen. The absolutely stunning globe comes thanks to Melanie Loveland ( Check out her incredible collection at thelovelandlanterncollection.com). She found the globe on German Ebay, thanks to her friend in Germany, this globe was able to return to Canada. The globe is exactly what would have been included in these hinge lanterns at the time. That said, it has so many swirls and bubbles in it, it really is unlike any E.T.W globe I’ve seen. Last thing worth noting about this lantern is the total lack of markings on it, all other hinge lanterns I’ve seen have the patent dates on either the brass clip on the front or on the center tube cap.