So a few years ago I picked up this B&M Lantern and was told that it was a caboose lantern. I guess my question is, is it en fact a caboose lantern or not? I figured it was because of the flat backing it had so it could be easily mounted on a wall.
John
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The lantern is not railroad, might be fo street department or something like that. Could be an Embury or a Dietz. The globe is RR, and looks like it's for a Dietz "Vesta" RR lantern,
I must admit that that doesn't look like ANY railroad lantern I have ever seen, going all the way back to the late 1940s. Does it actually have "B&M" markings on it?
I must admit that that doesn't look like ANY railroad lantern I have ever seen, going all the way back to the late 1940s. Does it actually have "B&M" markings on it?
Looks like the globe is marked.
I must admit that that doesn't look like ANY railroad lantern I have ever seen, going all the way back to the late 1940s. Does it actually have "B&M" markings on it?
Looks like the globe is marked.
Yes, but the globe could very well have been from a true "railroad lantern", instead of that odd look contraption.
Hot, I think the point is, the globe is a RR globe, and the lantern was pieced together and sold as a railroad lantern--probably for a premium.
If the globe is authentic, our friend should remove the globe, toss or sell the rest of the lantern, and try to find a Dietz (or whatever the B&M used) lantern, install the globe, and see if he can get something more authentic.
That globe did not originally come with that lantern. Obviously the globe is railroad but the lantern is not.
I'm going to agree with Andy, definitely an Embury truck lamp but not the original globe. It is supposed to look like that, it's not pieced together. They were designed to be hung on trucks as taillights. Deitz still carries the brackets for hanging it.
This link gives a close up of the lamp
Jerry
It is supposed to look like that, it's not pieced together.
It's supposed to look like a truck lamp with a railroad-embossed globe??
Of course it's pieced together!! That globe isn't original to that lamp. Therefore, by definition, someone "pieced it together!"
Then you should have said it was pieced together from a RR globe and a truck lantern and passed off as a RR lantern. The lantern itself was not pieced together it was made like that and later on someone added a RR globe. Could have been done by the original owner of the lamp to make it functional again by adding a globe that fit it. Later on the seller may have honestly thought it was a RR lantern and sold it as such. In any case tossing the lantern body as you suggest would be a waste of an interesting piece , akin to tossing a Scout locomotive in the trash because its's not a Hudson.
Jerry
Then you should have said it was pieced together from a RR globe and a truck lantern and passed off as a RR lantern.
I pretty much did say that (except the part about it being a truck lantern--but someone said that earlier, and I figured I didn't need to repeat it). Most of us know what "piecing together" a lantern means.
I highly doubt your scenario. Scammers know the value of a railroad lantern is higher than most any other lantern, and make oodles of cash selling them to unsuspecting suckers.
Very true. I'll never forget the time I went to a pretty large antique show/sale in New Jersey, as my wife and I were helping out my wife's mother who was a pretty large buyer & seller of jewelry, silver wear, and china. This was some 30 years ago, and when I finished the "heavy lifting", she told me to look around the place. I eventually found one dealer who had some old tool and one railroad kerosene lantern, which was embossed on the top with the Penn Central "mating worms" logo,,,,,it was priced at $100! When the gentleman noticed me looking at the lantern, he quickly pointed out that, "That is a VERY old, antique oil railroad lantern.". I then asked if he was familiar with that "PC logo" in the metal top? He said that that is the initials of the old rail line. I then explained exactly what the "PC logo" stood for, and that the Penn Central was a relatively NEW railroad, and was actually still in business, and that his "antique lantern" was truly no more than 3 or 4 years old, and thus not worth $10! He was not a happy camper.
Very true. I'll never forget the time I went to a pretty large antique show/sale in New Jersey, as my wife and I were helping out my wife's mother who was a pretty large buyer & seller of jewelry, silver wear, and china. This was some 30 years ago, and when I finished the "heavy lifting", she told me to look around the place. I eventually found one dealer who had some old tool and one railroad kerosene lantern, which was embossed on the top with the Penn Central "mating worms" logo,,,,,it was priced at $100! When the gentleman noticed me looking at the lantern, he quickly pointed out that, "That is a VERY old, antique oil railroad lantern.". I then asked if he was familiar with that "PC logo" in the metal top? He said that that is the initials of the old rail line. I then explained exactly what the "PC logo" stood for, and that the Penn Central was a relatively NEW railroad, and was actually still in business, and that his "antique lantern" was truly no more than 3 or 4 years old, and thus not worth $10! He was not a happy camper.
Did you buy it for $10? 
Might be worth more than $10 now.
Vintage Penn Central ! That's a good one !
This man's lantern isn't "etched." It's embossed. A distinction worth noting, especially if we're trying to educate the uninformed from paying the wrong price. Embossed lantern globes are HILGHLY collectible, compared to etched, which can be easily reproduced. If you buy lanterns all the time, you should know better.
Bid more.
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