Angle Lamps
The essential difference between the Angle Lamp and all other lamps is this--The Angle Lamp is a good lamp, all others are poor lamps....The Angle Lamp remedies every defect of the ordinary oil lamp and provides a method of illumination that is at once brilliant, reliable, economical, and distinctly superior...."It is the light of lights--truly the light that never fails."
These advertising claims were published about 1900 by The Angle Lamp Company, New York, N.Y.
In 1944, Larry Freeman said this about Angle Lamps, "Here is a lamp destined to almost as great revival possibilities as the student lamp." Sure enough, 50 years later collectors are enthusiastically seeking the unique Angle lamps.
Certainly Angle lamps provided advantages over other lamps with their unusual design and angle burners. Otherwise, the company would not have survived nearly four decades at a time when electricity and gas were illuminating city homes and businesses. Angle lamps probably were not sold in quantity until about 1896-1898. At that time they were the superior kerosene light on the market. Improvements were made and in the 1900-1907 period, sales increased. From 1908 until 1929, the Angle lamp was contemporary with the famous, efficient Aladdin lamps. Both the Aladdin and the Angle lamps were expensive. However, they probably did not compete head-on since the Mantle Lamp Company was based in the Midwest and the Angle Mfg. Company was based in New York City. At first they concentrated on different markets. Later, rural customers had the choice of buying the Aladdin from a traveling salesman or a local franchise dealer, or the Angle lamp from a local dealer or ordering from Montgomery Ward or Sears Roebuck catalogs.
| Text & Photos Copyright © 1998 by J.W. & Treva Courter - used with permission | |
 Grape pattern hanging lamp with amber chimney tops and Floral Bouquet elbow globes. The lamp has been stripped and polished. |
 Grape pattern double wall lamp with white opalescent chimney tops and Bird elbow globes. |
| Models and Patterns: | Number of Burners | |
| hanging lamps | wall lamps | |
| Plain can, with finials | 2 | 1 |
| Plain can, without finials | 2 | 1 |
| Fleur de Lis | 2,3,4 | 1 |
| Floral Garden | 2,3,4 | 1 |
| Rose Floral | 2 | 1,2 |
| Pinwheel, probably before 1911 | - | 1 |
| Grape, bulbous top and bottom | 2 | 1,2 |
| Grape, extended top and bottom | 2,3 | 1,2 |
| Plain Grape | 2,3 | 1 |
| Chandelier, probably before 1918 | 4,6,8 | - |
| Leaf & Vine | 2,1 | 1 |
| Wall Cone | - | 1 |
| Classic, cast white metal | 2 | 1 |
| Classic, cast white metal table lamp, 1 burner | . | . |
| Barn lantern, 1 burner (No. 100) | - | - |
| No. 100, 1 burner | - | - |
| No. 106 gas adaptor, 1 burner, probably before 1911 | - | - |
For additional information, be sure to visit our Publications page. There you will find the books: "The Light that never Fails" and "Angle Lamps Collectors Manual & Price Guide" - excellent resources for beginner and seasoned collectors alike.