Gas Lamps

A gas lamp is, as the name says, any kind of lamp that operates via the burning of gas rather than by electricity or any other means of light production. Gas lamps were first used during the early nineteenth century - they were invented by William Murdoch, a man who worked at a steam works in London and developed a lighting system based on flammable coal gas that was able to light a foundry and then the Pall Mall area of London (in the first display of public lighting; the first display of public lighting in America was in Baltimore about a decade later when gas lamps were made use of to light the city of Baltimore).

Old gas table lamps sometimes worked using compressed gas sources, and outdoors gas lamps used the gas that was provided via a pipe from the local gasworks in order to provide a source of light. Gas lamps made it possible for people to work a lot longer in offices and in various other businesses as the light that gas lamps provided was much stronger and more steady than candle light. This was one factor that helped to spur on the industrial revolution of this era in history. Today, you can use a gas lamp light conversion kit to change an antique gas lamp into a modern electrical lamp with an antique gas light lamp shade and attain the visual affect of having gas lamps without having to deal with the smell and the possible fire hazard of traditional gas lamps (as well as the necessity of finding the gas for them, which is more difficult in this day and age).

How to light a gas lamp: usually in order to light a colour light iron gas lamp you have some kind of lengthy lighting implement that you can lower into the part of the lamp where the gas is released (which is protected by some kind of cover to vent the gas upwards), or there may be some kind of contrivance along the outside of this venting shaft that lets you deliver a spark into the chamber or otherwise light it without using any kind of open flame. You can make a gas lamp yourself from simple materials if you are familiar with the principles between a gas lamp, although you must be careful with any kind of flammable material such as the coal gas that was used in old gas lamps or the natural gas that is more commonly used today in those parts of the world (such as areas of eastern Europe) where public gas lighting is still used.