Answer: When it's a thumb wheel!
About a month ago, I bought an auction lot of tokens. It was a neat assortment, containing a few CWT's and early merchant tokens. There was one piece that had me stumped, until I did some digging, that is.
Then, during a search, I came across this item on
ebay:
Then, another, close-up:
Then, there was light:
The "Star Burner" was manufactured by Holmes, Booth & Haydens. The thumb wheel is marked with H B & H and a Star on one side and PAT. JULY 23, 1872 on the other. There is a hinged burner cover and a glass chimney. It was about fifteen inches tall and four inches at the base. This lamp could easily be moved to different locations or hung on the wall.
Established in 1853, Holmes, Booth & Haydens operated a brass company in Waterbury, Connecticut. The principals were Israel Holmes, John C. Booth, Henry H. Hayden and Hiram W. Hayden. They produced rolls of brass and copper for use in the manufacture of assorted products. When kerosene was introduced for lighting purposes, the company added a product line of lamps and burners, adapted for its use. Their enterprise was associated with the Scoville Brothers and the Waterbury Brass company.
For further reading about the company, see: New England Manufacturers and Manufactories,
Volume 1 By Van Slyck, J. D. (available on Google Books)
One footnote ... Even the experts can be wrong ...
http://coinsite.com/sample-token-fo...-east-texas/
Posted 04/11/2015 09:16 am
