I have been a member of the "Coleman group" since before it was formally established. My first contact with another Coleman collector was when Ernie Hyatt walked into our booth at the Kane County Flea Market near Chicago, spotted an electrified CQ and called me a barbarian for spoiling a perfectly good lamp! As an Aladdin collector (only) at the time, I got the message, as I had said essentially the same thing to dealers who ruined usable Aladdins out of ignorance. I knew Coleman gasoline LANTERNS worked, as I was one of the many thousands of Boy Scouts who toted a red top model 200 on hikes and camping trips, and later used the 220 or 228 as an adult leader. But I had never even considered restoring a "gas bomb" Coleman table lamp until Ernie arrived on the scene.

I guess my first successful Coleman restoration was the kerosene wick fed Model 160. It was this lamp that lead me to Herb Ebendorf, and eventually to my first lamping related article for The Mystic Light on restoring the 160 with Aladdin parts. The friendship with Herb has ripened and flourished over the ensuing years, and this wonderful gentleman has been the inspiration, along with my dear English friend, Neil McRae, to get involved in both research and collecting of Coleman lamps and lanterns. Following Neil's example, I take any opportunity I can to display and talk about liquid fueled lighting. The display at the local "Camp Coleman" store is an example of that, and I encourage other ICCC members to do the same at their "local" Camp Coleman. Seeing older product in this era of Propane can either produce some interesting items for YOUR collection, or encourage owners of newer Coleman products to start to collect!

Fil's display at Camp Coleman #342 in Hagerstown, Maryland.

A most beautiful Deluxe Lamp.

As with any other lamp I get interested in, it is the transitional products demonstrating changes in technology that interest me most. If I acquire a lamp I cannot make function, I get rid of it, so everything on display is as functional as I can make it. My Coleman collection is rather sparse: WC's first complete development, the Arc lantern; the first Quick-Lite model, the Air-O-Lantern QL; the first Instant-Lite, the model 118 table lamp with original generator; the first attached pump, the "2LQ427" lantern; of course my first restored CQ; and a few of the exotics like the Deluxe and the curved snoot LZ327 made for Yale Light.

Not a lot of great stuff to take pictures of, but restoring these lamps and lanterns has taught me a great deal, and in one case (the Instant-Lite) has even helped clarify some incorrect assumptions about the development itself and the way Coleman described product during the transition period, and provided an article for the ICCC newsletter. I have only been to two Conventions, but the friendships and contacts made there have been a BIG help in keeping my enthusiasm for collecting at a high level. One of the real joys of collecting is the friendships made in the process. The photo below shows one of those happy days. Young Dan Gommel has become an enthusiastic collector and restorer, after the two Arc Lanterns were found in a barn a mile away from their Maine home. After a bit of cleaning, they both lit on the first try! Danny went home to Maine from a visit here with a pile of lamps and lanterns in trade. Danny represents the next generation of collectors, and I'm proud to have him as a "disciple". I wish they lived closer!

I have come a long way when I can confidently say that IF one doesn't mind the HISSSSSS (remember, I started as an Aladdin collector!), one can't get much brighter or easier light than from a Coleman CQ table lamp. Like the Aladdin, they are not exactly a joy to use indoors in the summertime because of the heat generated, but 250 to 300 candlepower from one lamp is MORE than enough light for about anything one could wish to do!

Fil Graff (left) with Dan Gommel and son Danny.

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