#29 - 1952 228E - Unfired

  Vital Stats

Model: 228E
Date: October 1951
Technology: Instant Light
Mantles: 2
Fuel: Gasoline
Date Acquired: May 5, 2018

Like their human owners, antiques and collectibles age.  It's just a part of our reality.  But with lanterns, age alone does not necessarily determine condition.  As Indiana Jones put it: "It's not the age, darlin', it's the mileage".  

Finding a lantern with 0 miles on the odometer ("unfired") is a find in-and-of itself, regardless of how rare or desirable the model is.  Assuming the lantern has been moderately well protected from the elements, its a time capsule of how it would have looked and operated out of the box, the later assuming you succumb to the temptation to light it.  In some cases they are found with a box, with included literature and accessories, and even in rarer cases they are found still sealed in their box.  It's fun to image how it got purchased, immediately got put on a shelf, and never opened or used in 30, 40, 50, 60, 70+ years (as is the case with this one).

That's not to say that age itself doesn't take its toll.  When I found this unfired 228E from 1951, the valve wheel was frozen up and the cap gasket had rotted, but cosmetically it was perfect. Not perfect in the way a collector lovingly polishes every part during a restoration, but perfect in that it had no fuel odor, no wrench marks, no "bail slap" or any other evidence of use that can't be hidden with paint or wiped away with Mother's Mag Polish.

I personally have only once fallen to the temptation of lighting an unfired piece. In my years collecting I have acquired 8 such pieces, and only fired a 425D stove.  It had unfortunately been exposed to the elements and had some corrosion and paint loss, and being a common stove, simply being unfired did not significantly increase its value, so I lit it before I sold it.

My rationalization for not lighting an unfired?  Like virginity, once its gone, its gone. To me an unfired piece is in a category all its own.  If I lit this 228E, it would no longer be an unfired 228E. It would just be another 228E.  I have a fired 228E.  I don't need two.

Appropriately, this post does not include a "money shot" of the lantern running. 

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