Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its History?

[BVH]

Beautiful Old Eveready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its History?

A friend gave this to me a few years ago and it's sat on a shelf neglected ever since. Finally got the energy to polish it up. It's a great looking light but I'm not sure of its era? Maybe the 30's or 40's? Can anyone I.D. it?

 

[Norm]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

Have a look around here Eveready Flashlights at the Flashlight Museum - Antique, classic and new flashlights - Eveready, Maglite, Surefire and more!
I had a brief look and found similar lights but not the exact light, it maybe there just didn't find it.
Norm
Had another look this may be it Eveready Flashlight - 2 Cell Lithograph Steel Case - Model No. 2681 (c. 1940)

Now I've got them on the one page I'm sure that is thae same as your light.

 

[Burgess]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

Good work, Norm !

:thumbsup:



And to BVH, your light is beautiful !

:twothumbs



Those old flashlights have such a charm and style of their own, eh ?


Looks a bit Art-Deco. Timeless beauty, even today.


Notice the bulb is threaded, as was common until after WW2.


BTW, is the bulb a #14 ?



The PR-series of flashlight bulbs came out after the War.
( PR actually stands for "PRe-focused" )


Problem with screw-base bulbs is getting them exactly in focus,

and ( equally important ), keeping them in focus.

You see, they had a tendency to " unscrew " slightly,
when subjected to movement, vibration, banging & dropping, etc.


The PR-2 bulbs ( in 2-D cell flashlights ) eliminated this quirk.




Do you know the history of this particular flashlight ?


Bet it would have some very interesting stories to tell !

:wave:



such as . . . .

" Hey, let me outta' this Glove Compartment. It's HOT in here ! "


" Hey, these batteries are leaking ACID all over my insides ! "


" Hey, stop BANGIN' on me, and clean my contacts, already ! "


" No, that's the wrong bulb ! No wonder i look so dim ! "


" Quit droppin' me, Butterfingers ! "


" Are we gonna' Walk the Dog AGAIN ? ? ? "




anyone have any more ? ? ?

:devil:



( maybe i shoulda' put this in the "You Know Yer' a Flashaholic . . . . " thread )

_

 

[bf1]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

Great light,
In the Eveready catalogue it appears to be vintage 1940. 2-d focusing Spotlight No.2681. Lithographed steel case, with brass fittings and threaded bulb.
Enjoy .

 

[BVH]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

Hey Great find Norm! Thank you! It is indeed, my light. My guess wasn't too far off. This particular light probably did not see much use at all. Absolutely no signs of any acid leaks, abuse, etc. I'd rate it a 95% out of 100. All of the brass Anodizing (did they do that back then?) is 100% intacked and shiny. The switch works very positively, not mushy. Even the reflector coating is in really, really good condition. It is as if it rolled off the line yesterday. I'm not sure why I didn't polish it up a long time ago, it really is beautiful and I agree, I've always thought "Art Deco" when ever I looked at it. Now I just need a couple D cells to try it out. The filament looks like it's still good but I don't think it's an original era bulb. The markings on it are "Mazda" and "2.4 delta" (delta triangle symbol) How would I tell if it's a #14?

I haven't been able to figure out how they permanently installed the reflector and window yet. I at first thought that the very front of the head would unscrew to remove the glass window and then the reflector but it's all one piece of metal. Must be machine crimped or something. I need a stronger magnifying glass and glasses.

Thanks again, everyone for your help and input! I'll have to go back to the giver and find out if he has any history.

 

[Trashman]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

Nice light. That light is one of the few vintage lights that I've been searching for. I see them on ebay every now and then, but they're rarely in the fine condition that yours appears to be in. I'm not much of a collector, but I've got a few vintage ones, mostly art deco styles. Maybe, I'll get up the gumption to snap a few pics up them.

 

[lctorana]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

Two suggestions:

1) Go to a hardware store or Radio Shack, and buy yourself a 2.5V 300mA MES bulb (1161 or similar, should set you back the princely sum of $1), so that you can keep your original bulb intact.

2) Use NiCad or NiMH D cells to power it. You really DON'T want to risk a battery leak!

If you want to mod it, the mod must be 100% reversible. Two cheap 3AA battery carriers and the GH44 from Reflectalite can be swapped out for standard in 30 seconds flat.

 

[souptree]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

That's a terrific light. You should turn it into a sleeper hotwire project! :devil:

 

[BVH]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

Two suggestions:

If you want to mod it, the mod must be 100% reversible. Two cheap 3AA battery carriers and the GH44 from Reflectalite can be swapped out for standard in 30 seconds flat.

Thank you Ictorana, this was going to be my next post - what can I do to upgrade output without changing anything permanently. Just placed my order.

 

[Patriot]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

That's a beauty BVH and I definitely agree that you should hotwire it with a reversible mod. It's too pretty not to.

 

[Norm]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

'd rate it a 95% out of 100. All of the brass Anodizing (did they do that back then?) is 100% intacked and shiny.

I think you'll find that the pattern part of the brass was still shiny due to the lithographic process the black would have been printed followed by a clear coat that would have protected that part of the brass.
Norm

 

[BVH]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

Don't know why I never finished this thread with a post of my "un-doable" hotwire mod. Ictorana pointed me to the Reflectable dot com websit where I found a 6 Volt, 10 Watt, screw-in bulb that fits perfectly. It puts out 200 bulb Lumens. It's over-driven a bit so it's probably closer to 250 bulb Lumens or so. I used one of Modamags 8A-2D adapters filled with 7 Eneloops and a dummy to power it. Completely reversible!

 

[JCup]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

I'd say you have the original miniature lamp in that Eveready. Be careful with it.

Mazda was a name GE trademarked and used until 1945. They licensed this trademark to other manufacturers who agreed to use tungsten filaments and meet certain standards. See:

http://www.oldchristmaslights.com/the_mazda_lamp_story.htm

 

[herbicide]

Re: Beautiful Old Everyready Brass & Black, 2-D Cell Flashlight, Anyone Know Its Hist

Notice the bulb is threaded, as was common until after WW2.

[...]

The PR-series of flashlight bulbs came out after the War.
( PR actually stands for "PRe-focused" )


Problem with screw-base bulbs is getting them exactly in focus,

and ( equally important ), keeping them in focus.

You see, they had a tendency to " unscrew " slightly,
when subjected to movement, vibration, banging & dropping, etc.


The PR-2 bulbs ( in 2-D cell flashlights ) eliminated this quirk.

Ah! Enlightenment!

I hadn't even thought about the whys and wherefores of lamp bases. It's an odd, inconsequential, esoteric piece of information that, once acquired, makes you think; 'why didn't I know that already'...