Century old Flashlights?

Interesting. It looks like the same light. They state it’s era date is 1917.

please don’t mod or destroy this beauty in any way. its rare nowadays to get
immortal incan bulbs. better put safts or energizer lithiums in there. I know
one day this will save you when the great emp comes :smiley:

You could sell them for a good amount $$$ then use the money for something you will use more…

Ebay

Every once in a while you see some very old ones there and unique too. Always wanted to mod one, but there's no heat sinking and usually there's enough wear that they just wouldn't look good modded, so I've never done one, but I've seen members here and on CPF do some modding.

+ 1

Very true. These will stay as original as they are, especially considering they still work.

Based on Stuart Schnieder’s “Collecting Flashlights” printed in 1996, your Eveready dates to 1915/1916 based on the tailcap logo. The “2D” models of this vintage and quality (based on your pics) were worth $20-$35 back then. Yale was made from 1919 to 1928, my quick guess from the first half to middle of that era, and an approximate value about half of the Eveready. The Eveready’s condition would appeal to a collector seeking that model; it’s quite nice and would be hard to find in that condition. The Yale has tailcap denting, heavier corrosion, and plating wear on the switch limiting it’s appeal- plus the ’brand appeal” is a lot lower.

I’d suggest an Ebay search for more current values. Also if you like old flashlights get a copy of the book. If you’re over 50 the “Nostalgia Trip” alone is worth the price of a copy. Good history, very nice color pics, and good clean fun to read!

Phil

Clean em up, polish em up. Put them on your shelf with newer stuff. I'm sure they would have a lot to talk about together. Good company, sharin war stories an stuff. Aaah, history in the makin. Beautiful old age Americana...I love It!

Wow, that is so neat! Good on you, man! What an awesome find and friend you have there. I'm with the "keep 'em original" crowd. Clean them up and display them proudly. I've always wanted ones like that but when I see them at flea markets and such they are always asking top dollar.

My order for “Collecting Flashlights” printed in 1996. just shipped five minutes ago.

That's what we need here now, an antique section. Yes?

Thanks SawMaster for the knowledge, and there's the famous flashlight museum to find it all back :-) :

http://www.flashlightmuseum.com/Eveready-Flashlight-2604-2-Cell-Vulcanite-Light-with-Nickel-Plated-Brass-Ends-and-Eveready-Logo-MOL-is-65-inches-2D-1915

http://www.flashlightmuseum.com/Yale-Flashlight-2-Cell-Ribbed-Vulcanite-Baby-Light-with-Slide-Switch-2C-1924

You might want to do a little research before you clean those lights. In the rare coin arena, cleaning reduces the value of the coin.

http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/collectors_corner/?action=caring_for_coins

While this caution may not be as true for flashlights, remember that once “cleaned”, you can’t go back to the patina that you removed. I would just use a soft bristle brush to remove the “big chunks”, and get the value “as is”. Whoever gives you a value can then tell you whether or not you should do any cleaning.

A few members on LPF have done up a few similar original vintage lights and they look spectacular!

Vintage all-copper Bond build #1 (pic heavy)

Vintage all-copper Rayovac builds #3 and #4

Although I do prefer the original look.

Right now i will leave them as they are in original condition. :slight_smile:

Since they work, leave them alone. If they did not work, do only what is needed to restore function, no more. If you want to use a vintage flashlight to mod a modern LED into, buy one of the dozens on ebay that is not in as nice of condition.

I too have some very old vintage lights… including a French Flasher from around 1914 or so:

It has an aspheric lens and puts this round goodness on the wall:

I’ll post some others soon. We really need a Vintage and Antique Flashlight section. They too can be considered “budget lights”, as most can be purchased for $50 or less, some for half of that. My French Flasher (wow, that DOES sound inappropriate, doesnt it?) was only $24 at the local antique store.

OK... come & clean my monitor screen up! Wow. Those are outstanding finds. I spent hours trying to get a patina like that on some brass bezels for a customers light a few weeks back. I didn't realize all I had to do was throw them up in the attic for 50-60-70 years and wait!!!Surprised BEAUTIFUL LIGHTS!!! Thanks for sharing. TL

this looks like brad`s avatar.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Large-17-5-EVEREADY-CAPTAIN-3-6-D-Cell-Battery-FLASHLIGHT-Union-Carbide-/291457703304?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43dc3b9d88

My avatar is a Rayovac 5 Cell Sportsman with Ring Hanger.

http://www.flashlightmuseum.com/Rayovac-Flashlight-5-Cell-Sportsman-with-Ring-Hanger-5D-1965

A customer and I found it when he bought a new house, and he let me have it, it works fine. The light also taught me that there were good lights when I was a kid, being poor, I hadn’t known that a lot of homeowners had such capable flashlights with such great throw (for the time), I had thought that we all had the cheapest little 2 D cell lights that never worked , remember pulling them out of the kitchen drawer, turning on the switch and no light came out, then you had to start playing the flashlight game of “is it the batteries, is the bulb burned out, is the switch not working, is it 2 or 3 of them all at once?, shake shake, hit with the palm of your hand, shake, shake.

I lost the link to the museum in a HD crash- thanks “djozz” for posting it :slight_smile: No really old ones here, but the old incan’s are the “flashlight bug” that bit me long, long ago. I have an interesting 2D from 1935- the main bulb is focusable and the second bulb on top is solid glass and still works! I will post pics next time I get the laptop out; this old PC doesn’t read my camera’s cards.

The new lights are awesome on their own right, but there’s history in the old ones so please don’t lose our history by altering any of the rare or valuable ones.

Phil