Hurricane Lamps

The lamp in the photo belonged to my mother-in-law and it was headed to the trash before I saved it and found a permanent home for in our basement. My hubby who doesn't seem to realize what is junk and what is treasure actually threw this lovely lamp in the trash box because it didn't have a top. Chimney tops can be picked up for a dollar or two at Walmart, thrift shops and even yard sales and the one you are looking at came from a flea market. I still can't believe this lovely lamp came close to being part of a landfill.

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Hurricane lamps are oil burning glass lamps with glass chimney's. The oil in the base of the lamp has a cloth wick that rolls up & down by twisting the stem. When the wick is lit the lamp oil keeps it slowly burning and the top glass chimney protects the flame from going out.

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Last winter we were without power for ten days because of a major ice storm that hit our area. We had thirteen people living in our basement (it's finished but more importantly it has a wood burning stove which kept us all warm). We had candles and flashlights but when it got dark this hurricane lamp was our biggest source of light. Don't you know I pointed out more than once to dear hubby, how I saved this lamp from being thrown out.

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Most of these vintage lamps are pretty common and can be bid on any day of the week on eBay and now they are quite reasonable, however they are heavy so the shipping runs close to the price of the lamp. Some of the more rare or ones with a collectible name can bring hundreds of dollars but like most things it depends on how much a collector wants to pay. Aladdin is probably the number one name in antique lamps, including hurricane lamps. Such names as Waterford and Cambridge produce beautiful crystal hurricane lamps. These lamps are in popular demand and can bring top dollar. Fenton and Vaseline art glass are also highly collectible and can bring top dollar.

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The retail market has a variety of lamps they refer to as hurricane lamps. It seems that any lamp with a a glass shield these days is considered a hurricane lamp, including candles and electric lamps with glass chimneys. Hurricane Lamp Collectors know which ones are valuable and which ones are common. If you are selling one and you find a name on your lamp or the mechanical stem be sure to research the name further, you of course will want to get as much money as you can.

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Collector's don't usually use high dollar hurricane lamps in their homes they display them, however, every family should have a hurricane lamp, a container of lamp oil and extra wicks, matches or lighters as part of an emergency kit. You don't have to buy a vintage lamp, Walmart and Kmart both sell them for about $10 in the home departments. As many disasters as we have seen in the past few years in every US State it is just common sense to buy one.

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If you are a collector now is a great time to buy, if you are a seller it very wise to do some research before you sell your lamp. There are some great identification and price guides at your local library or you can buy them through any book store.