#3 -1970 220F - One in every home

Vital Stats
Model: 220F
Date: May 1970
Technology: Instant-Lite
Fuel: Gasoline
Paid: $0

Odds are, if you grew up in the suburbs in the 70', 80's, or 90's, you had a Coleman 220F sitting in your garage.  I don't really have any numbers to back that up, and if that sounds too easy, I'll amend my statement to say "if you grew up in the suburbs in the 70', 80's, or 90's and you had a camping lantern sitting in your garage, odds are it was a Coleman 220F."  Regardless of accuracy, the Coleman 220F may be the most easy to find, and hardest to avoid, two mantle model of the Coleman lineup.
So when we purchased some property on the NC coast back in 2014 that had a double-wide trailer on it, in retrospect I shouldn't be surprised that it had this sitting in it:


My wife sent me this picture while she was doing the walkthrough just prior to closing.  Even though I had not yet entered my collector phase yet, she knew I was semi-obsessed with the restoration of my Dad's lantern.  I was thrilled that this lantern was as turn-key as the trailer was, full of fuel and ready to run, albeit a bit rusty.

The 220F dominated the camping happy culture of the baby-boomers as they came into adulthood. Produced from 1963 - 1973, the 3rd longest run of the 220/228 series, it was a more-or-less a manufacturing friendlier version of it's predecessors.  The low profile vent reduced the overall height of the lantern and had sturdier welds with less surface area to rust.  A rust proof aluminum frame rest/collar replaced the previous steel ones, and the stamped sunrise logo was moved from the side of the fount to the bottom, and the logo was moved from the unfortunate location of underneath the fill a spout.  These changes also resulted in a lighter weight model, and towards the end of the run of the 220F the brass air tube was replaced with steel one and the old 3-piece fuel cap replaced with a one-piece version that is still used today, further reducing weight.

The one negative that I've found, besides the fact that collectors practically trip over these while picking, is a weak paint job that peels like a rotten banana.
The irony of this post is not lost on me that I did not grow up with a 220F in the garage.  The 228F would probably be a close 2nd.


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