Enter  Last Name: Advanced Person Search Home  Search Names  Search Objects  Help Item Name Betty Lamp Image1 Image2 Owner(s) Schneider, Joseph E. Category Artifacts Year Early: 1850 - Late: 1880 Description Hand-forged iron lard lamp simple in design without wick pick but with linked hook device for hanging. This was the best lighting source used by the Pennsylvania Germans before the advent of kerosene in the 1850s. Other light sources were hand-dipped or moulded candles. It could be hung from a shelf or mantlepiece to provide light for working that exceeded one candle power. It would burn lard or other grease which was in the pan and so was economical. In winter, however, the lamp had to be heated so that the fuel was viscous and would flow up the wick. The wick was generally a piece of rag which lay in the tube and immersed in the fuel. Provenance The lamp was used in Joseph Schneider Haus. According to the donor, "Grandmother [Anna Maria (Schneider) Stouffer] said that the lamp was used when people where sick - it hung on the bed, providing a low light in the room." Collection Joseph Schneider Haus Museum Contact : 466 Queen St. S. Kitchener 519-742-7752 www.region.waterloo.on.ca Accession No. 1982.005.001 Curatorial Comments The name "betty" is thought to have originated from the German word "Bett" meaning bed though it seems unlikely that these would be used in a bedroom. The reference by the donor to its use in the sick room would relate to a period well after the Schneiders had kerosene lamps and may represent an evolved use. Anna Maria was the daughter of Samuel B. Schneider and hence the reference would be from the latter years of the Victorian period. Home  Search Names  Search Objects  Help
	©Region of Waterloo Fraktur design based on Family Register by Jacob Shoemacher in Joseph Schneider Bible, 1821.