Never thought retirement would be like this

Meanderer said:
It is a regular sized room, all staging and props. Yeah, Nancy, I couldn't believe the Fish pillow, when I found it! Here's the last picture, from the door. The kerosine lamp on the table was from an estate sale, and cost 35 dollars. "The Little Wizard"!
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Ahhh, Jim... now we can visualize you in your cabin room, sitting at your desk searching for all your wonderful graphics. :clap:
 

ndynt said:
My grandmother's house had all gas lights, that were electrified. I always thought the dining room chandelier was originally oil lamps, for the class cylinders were too long for just a gas lamp. ....
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Nona, my grandmother in West Virginia had only natural gas in her house when I was little, late 40's. She just had simple lights, like a pipe coming out of the wall with a burner, and very few of those. It was always dark and dreary inside at night, and upstairs you still had to use oil lamps. My uncle nearby had an old galavanized pipe stuck in the ground in his front yard with an eternal flame. My dad said he just put a pipe in the ground and got gas. I just assumed later he had been pulling my leg. Wish I had asked. My uncle lived way off in the middle of nowhere, and I can't imagine they would run a gas line up there, so maybe he was not just teasing me.

Now you've got me interested in natural gas, in WV. I don't have enough time to learn about all the interesting things there are. Keep getting farther and farther behind....:(
 
That is really interesting, Nancy. Please share what you learn. Aren't we so fortunate to be able to just go on the internet and research all the interesting things that come up on SF? I remember too well going through pages and pages of micro-fish...trying to research things. Not to mention card catalogs. Bless Google search :D
 

ndynt said:
Aren't we so fortunate to be able to just go on the internet and research all the interesting things that come up on SF? I remember too well going through pages and pages of micro-fish...trying to research things. Not to mention card catalogs. Bless Google search :D
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YES! YES! And the Dewey decimal system :p, or having to go through interlibrary loan, or the book you wanted had already been checked out, and wasn't due back for 4 weeks.:eewwk: Just getting to the library was a task.
 
This is the hanging store lamp (electric), that is a reproduction. The couple, who owned the local hardware, had a man, who was a tinner and made it. I have it in the garage, and only use a 25 watt bulb. I thought about trying a different type bulb.
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Actually that is a pretty photograph. The lamp has a mysterious old West look to it. A higher wattage bulb would give more light, but you might not be able to focus your eyes on the lamp as well. They do make bulbs that are shaped like candle flames. That might look good.
 
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Thirty eight years ago, when we moved in to our little house, there was an old, non functioning oil lamp hanging on the front porch. The tank part was around a foot across, and it had two wide wicks about 2 inches wide, hanging from both sides like two ears. The top was rusted away, and the two globes were missing. We puttied up the bottom part, and placed some artificial ivy of sorts in it, to make a planter. Eventually, it rusted away and I kept a lantern hanging there, for some years. I always called it a farm lamp, but could never find a picture of it. It was pretty neat.
 
That hanging lamp is so beautiful, Jim. I second Nancy regarding the candle shaped bulb. If you are not using it for a prime source of light the flickering type would be wonderful. Despite the numerous times I have scrolled down this page....your room pics continue to exude such a warm and inviting feeling.
 
Nancy, I can't believe the amount of detailed information you have gathered, on your lamps! My little wizard is a work-horse, that has been "worked hard, and put away, wet"! Most of our lamps, are used when the power is off. That doesn't happen often. Here's 2 lamps, identical to the ones, we had.

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When I started working for the gas company, we used these blue Deitz lanterns with red glass globes. This one appears to be painted red. I have seen miner's head lamps, but never lit. This is an example, that I found.

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Ahh.... a kerosene headlamp.:eewwk: Seems like a good way to detect methane and start coal dust explosions in a coal mine, wouldn't it? This picture makes me claustrophobic.



As far as knowing about lamps, I lived and breathed this stuff for about a year. But now I've forgotten most of it. Will get back to you later on your lamps....:eek:nthego:
 
Meanderer, about your 38+ year old outdoor porch lantern....not enough information to go on I'm afraid. But I've never seen a picture of a lamp/lantern with an oil container a foot wide or a 2" wick. Doesn't mean it couldn't be. There are also kerosene brooder heaters, smudge pots, stoves, even foot warmers. Tinsmiths were very imaginative, evidently.



"Simple metal hand lamps were factory made, made by the local or an itinerant tinsmith, or home made. Tin cans were easily converted to kerosene lamps."
(from Oil Lamps: The Kerosene Era in North America, Catherine M. V. Thuro, c. 1976)

So people might have made lanterns out of just about anything, even buckets. Maybe the grandfather of the guy that made your garage lamp made it. ;)

As far as the two lamps in your last pictures...the second one looks like it could be a nice lamp. The other picture doesn't show enough. You really have to have detailed close up pictures, before you can tell anything from pictures. There are oil lamps from China now being made to look just like antique EAPG lamps.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.:(
 
Actually rereading your post with a clear head this morning, that was more information than you were asking for. It came out sounding like I was trying to show off (about knowing nothing:)). Didn't mean it to. Need to quit posting late at night.

Battery in truck seemed sluggish to start the last few days. Sometimes they just stop dead without warning, so I got a new one at Walmart. It tested bad, and was 8 years old. Hit them when they weren't busy and it only took about 15 minutes. But driving home the idle speed dropped so low it would stall at stops. Don't panic until you can check Google, is my new motto. Internet gurus said simplest explanation is the computer is reset and has to relearn things---just drive it and it will adjust. Hope they are right. I don't like the idea of computers on automobiles. I've never had a computer last for 18 years (age of truck).

Today is an even bigger home football game---Alabama. But I'm afraid the rain may dampen spirits. It is at 3:30 and too dangerous to leave the house during the game, with rain making fan exit time unpredictable. They are already finding parking places on my street at 10:30am. So I'm hunkered down for the day. No excuses not to clean house...so far.
 
I know that removing the battery, will mess up the radio settings. Was your old battery 18 years old, as well?:rolleyes: Here is a new coffee cup for you to use!:)
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Clarification of previous post...

Alabama 38, Georgia 10. Georgia looked awful. And there is a lot of mud here due to rain.
 
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So far, so good, with the truck. Before new battery the RPM meter thing always said 800 at idle. Immediately after new battery it was 350. After driving some Sunday it is up to ~550. No stalling now, almost too quiet. Hope my computer it not too old to still learn.
 
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So last night I started looking for information about the gas pipe in my uncle's yard. Looks like it could have been real. Not to say it was, but it could have been. Less than 100 miles away is Burning Springs, WV. Gas used to bubble up from the ground there.

But then I got sidetracked on the Matewan (WV) massacre. Now I have to watch the movie. This led to a picture of Two-gun Sid Hatfield, the sheriff of Matewan. I like his tie.

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Which led me to the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. Two-Gun was related.
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These are the Hatfields. No picture of the McCoys.

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Ownership of Pig Goes to Trial by Jury
The 2nd recorded instance of violence happened after 1878 over the dispute of the rightful owner of a hog. Floyd Hatfield had the pig and Randall McCoy said the pig belonged to him. The pig was on Hatfield property, so they said it belonged to the property owners; however, Randall McCoy pointed out the markings on the pig’s ears as McCoy markings.

They took the matter to the local Justice of the Peace Anse Hatfield for trial by jury. Bill Staton, the star witness, under oath, swore the pig belonged to the Hatfields. The jury was made up of six Hatfields and six McCoys but one of the jury members, a McCoy who was having an affair with a Hatfield girl voted in favor of the Hatfields. The blame for the retention of the pig by the Hatfields was placed on the star witness, Bill Staton, who became a target from the McCoys.

Paris and Sam McCoy shot Bill Staton to death a few months following the trial. The two killers were brought to trial but were found not guilty. Some around the area thought Devil Anse arranged for the acquittal in an attempt to soothe family between the families. That did not work—the McCoys were outraged that Paris and Sam had to stand trial at all.

Guess I just like old pictures...
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But this led to a video of a bluegrass song, "The Hatfields and McCoys,"

Which led to watching Jerry Reed and Glen Campbell guitar duets,

Then I spotted a video about....

Rock Crawling Lawnmower Style.

Watched the whole thing. You can get the gist of it in the first 5 minutes.


Then the evening was gone! This happens most every night. I've got to stop!!!!

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I found the missing rifle!!!

As suspected it is a really simple inexpensive one you could order from Sears. It was leaning behind the closet door. You had to go completely inside and shut the door to see it. How stupid of me not to look there. My memory is getting really bad. About a year ago I read that if you have too many things on your mind you will forget where you put things because your mind is on something else when you lay them down. After that I had an occasion to take off a pair of earrings while doing some job in an unusual place (maybe in the basement?). So I concentrated carefully on where I put them and went over and over it in my mind. Sure enough, I still forgot where I put them. They're still missing.:confused:
 
Ha! Ha! These are more my style---the antique look. I've been trying to narrow down the date on this Mafia revolver. It is almost as interesting as dating oil lamps. Ought to be easier because there are so many more pictures out there to look at, but there is always something just a little bit different. I may have to pay money to Smith&Wesson to get a letter with a date if I really want to know. They will even tell you where the thing was shipped to from the factory. That would be interesting.

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jujube said:
My great-aunt was married to one of Devil Anse Hatfield's sons. I finally got to meet my Hatfield second-cousin last summer in California.
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That is so cool, Jujube! Are you interested in family trees? I got into that a few years ago and hit a dead end in the early 1800s. That century was a very interesting period in history here. I think people forget that just 200 years ago this place had a lot of wilderness territory.

Do you have any old pictures?
 
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