Railroad Hand-Signal Lantern, 1920s-40s
Object Details
- Armspear Manufacturing Company
- Description
- This kerosene hand lantern was manufactured by the Manufacturing Company of New York, New York during the early 20th century. The lamp has a metal body has a blue glass bulb surrounded by a protective wire frame. The bottom of the lamp contained the oil font, with the wick protruding from the font into the bulb. The top of the lantern is stamped with the text “ARMSPEAR MANFG CO./“1925”/New York” while the lower metal portions reads “B.&O. R.R.” This lantern was used on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
- Before the advent of portable two way radios train crews communicated via hand signals during the day, and lantern signals during periods of low visibility or at night. This lantern with the blue globe was used by station agents to signal a train to pick up train orders, or to mark equipment that was being worked on and wasn’t to be moved.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Amalie Adler Ascher
- 1920-1949
- ID Number
- 1989.0745.42
- catalog number
- 1989.0745.42
- accession number
- 1989.0745
- Object Name
- lantern, hand signal
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Transportation, Railroad
- Work
- Communications
- Transportation
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Railroad Stations
- Railroads
- Record ID
- nmah_1093840
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-6a82-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
Related Content
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.