Help dating early Everready Flashlight

[Pars]

Hello there Ladies, Gents and anyone else that may be reading!?

Newbie here that needs help dating what I think is a very old Eveready flashlight that I found hidden within a wall of my house that I am renovating. The build date of my house is 1910, upon stripping out an old lath and plaster wall I found what I believe to be a torch from this era, it certainly looks like its been stuck within the wall cavity since the house was built but is in very good condition considering.

As a new member I dont seem to be able to post pictures as yet though I do have a few, the torch (yep Im from the UK) resembles many I have seen on sites from the early 1900 period but haven't seen anything with a similar logo on the base cap. It has the original Ever Ready logo (hence my two R's in the title post) but it is much smaller being about half the size of the actual cap. The switch is also near the lens of the light, with a flash button and a sliding metal device behind that allows the button to be held down. Body is black vulcanized fibre I think.

Hope to be able to post some pictures soon but if anyone thinks they can help date it I can email them.

Be intrigued to see if anyone can help I want to know if its worth anything or if I should modify it and strap it to the handle bars of my mountain bike as the latest great light on the market! On the subject of which Im off to search this site for details on building your own LED lights for such a purpose as my old light has died............

 

[StarHalo]

Well the easiest way to get a date is to start off with a compliment or two, then dinner or maybe coffee..

Seriously though, gotta have a picture to do that kind of identification. Don't forget to search around for similar lights, as well.

 

[El Camino]

You could take a look at flashlightmuseum.com. You can try searching for any model numbers on the light.

I have to say that sounds like a great find!

 

[Backpacker Light]

Newbie here that needs help dating what I think is a very old Eveready flashlight that I found hidden within a wall of my house that I am renovating. The build date of my house is 1910, upon stripping out an old lath and plaster wall I found what I believe to be a torch from this era, it certainly looks like its been stuck within the wall cavity since the house was built but is in very good condition considering.

I love this story of someone finding an antique light inside the walls of an old house. I once was shopping in an antique shop and someone walked in carrying a light with the same exact story-line. I was amazed and very jealous.

The EverReady Company history has been well researched and documented. I drove from Rochester, NY to Cleveland, Ohio in May, 2006 with a very bored wife to attend the 9th annual Flashlight Collector's Convention, and the shear number and high quality of old lights put my small collection to shame.

http://wordcraft.net/flashlight7.html

I met Bill Utley and purchased a signed copy of his well written and very interesting and entertaining (for us flashaholics anyway) book about the history of the EverReady Company. It is extremely detailed with tons of excellent pictures of virtually every EverReady light ever produced. Many of the early one's are very valuable.

http://www.flashlightmuseum.com/flashlight_view.cfm?item_number=0000001

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abu/y208/m10/abu0225/s06

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20010603&slug=homeflash03

I do not know if it is still available, Amazon maybe?

Pars, welcome to CPF!
The light you found was in good condition? The batteries had not leaked? If not, then the old batteries themselves are also very collectible.

http://www.ericwrobbel.com/collections/batteries.htm

Please post us more details.

 

[tomfruit]

I happen to collect vintage torches, so if you post a pic (when you can) I may be able to estimate. I say 'may' because Im far from expert, but it may match something I have by coincidence, so who knows?

 

[Backpacker Light]

Page two of Bill Utley's book is "Identify and Date Eveready Flashlights by Switch and Endcap", and is full of pictures of all the changes thru the years.

He states-
"The switch is the best indicator of make and model. The endcap helps pinpoint the date. For example, the Slide & Flash Button switch, beginning in 1917, was used during two different endcap periods. Therefore the endcap is needed to determine the date. Allow some overlap of dates of most switches and endcaps because older parts were usually exhausted before newer parts were used."

From 1901 to 1913 the endcap had a circular type trademark with ER in the middle, the "E" inserted through the "R", and three small points on the outside of the circular trademark band.

From approx. 1913 to 1916, the ER in the middle was changed to "Eveready" in small letters.

In 1917 to 1920 the endcap trademark changed entirely to more of a six pointed shield type with "Eveready Daylo" in the middle in larger letters.

I see nothing mentioned or pictured with the "two R" Ever Ready spelling you mentioned, can you check that again to make sure it is not Eveready?

Does the glass lense have a domed "bullseye" look?

Does it take two or three batteries, and what size are they (C or D)? Have you tried throwing in new cells to see if it fires up?

 

[Pars]

I did try to reply earlier but as yet it hasn't appeared so I shall try again......(Guessing it may be under moderation)

Thats great information much appreciated, I have uploaded some pics onto a hosting site so if this link works you should be able to view them.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/822/torch5.jpg/

Thanks for the information though certainly helps a lot.

 

[Norm]

(Guessing it may be under moderation)

There should be no reason why you can't post an image - Norm

 

[Backpacker Light]

Thanks for the great pictures.

Wow, that is an amazing looking light. I have never seen that Ever Ready trademark, although it is very similar in design. Maybe it was a UK subsidiary? Maybe a period knock-off with just the slight change of spelling.

I have never seen that switch either. but it certainly looks like from the approx. 1910 period!

 

[Burgess]

I believe (and certainly someone will correct me if i'm wrong) :)

that THIS company EverReady is NOT at all connected with

the Eveready company which we all know and love !


T'was just a clever ploy to "ride on the coat-tails" of an established, well-respected brand.

As you can see -- it managed to fool a LOT of people ! ! !

Even nearly a Century later !

 

[Backpacker Light]

I believe (and certainly someone will correct me if i'm wrong) :)

that THIS company EverReady is NOT at all connected with

the Eveready company which we all know and love !


T'was just a clever ploy to "ride on the coat-tails" of an established, well-respected brand.

As you can see -- it managed to fool a LOT of people ! ! !

Even nearly a Century later !

Burgess thank you so much for chiming in on this trade-mark. I thought I was going crazy for never seeing the double R anywhere, but for some reason your post made me do a double stop, and I went back to the expert.

Although I have owned Bill Utley's book since 2006, it is loaded with so much history and detail, I opened it again, and I found never read or interested in before this the last Chapter 12 - "British Ever Ready Company".

There is ancient history (to me anyway).

He states-
"The history of British EverReady Company will only be touched on briefly. To do justice to their history would take another complete book."

He goes on with some great history and pics of British made wood body lights. Later, one picture shows your light with your switch, but with three cells, and dated 1917?

Pars, this is great stuff, and you could have found a very valuable and a one of a kind piece of history.

 

[Burgess]

Just wanna' post an UPDATE / CORRECTION to my info above . . . .

Found this on WikiPedia (along with a lot more information):


The British Ever Ready Electrical Company (BEREC) was formed in 1906
as the export branch of the American Eveready Battery Company.

In 1914 it became independent of its American parent company.



So -- i was entirely *incorrect* in my statement above !

:oops:


Glad we've managed to get to the bottom of this issue.

lovecpf
_

 

[Pars]

Guys thanks for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm you've been a great help, I have now spent hours trying to research both companies and history of flashlights (torches in the case of my light!!!) and I found it very interesting indeed :-) Burgess I read your first post whilst I was in work and didn't have time to reply, I had read the wiki site and several others about the British Everready but haven't been able to find anything anywhere illustrating the same logo which I thought was unusual for how well documented the history of flashlights seems to be.

I was going to spend a bit of time this weekend trying to restore it to it's former glory as so far it's been handle with cotton gloves and kept wrapped up, think I will be leaving it untouched until I find out if it is a valuable collectors piece or not in case I damage it in anyway.

The flashlight is the 3 cell model, the end cap unscrewed like it was new and the first two cells slid straight out, sure the third cell just needs a slight tap from the bulb end and will come out. Backpacker 1917 would also fit with the information I've found out locally about the construction date of the house. Hope it is valuable as this house has been a very expensive nightmare!!!

Once again thanks for your help

 

[sgiterman]

Hello everyone-

Yes, this is a British Ever Ready (the name will appear as two words, and "specialties" was only used for British products). To be more prescise, this light appears in the 1925-1926 British Ever Ready catalouge as Models with Machine Cut Threads with intermittent and permanent switch. No 1917A is a 2 cell, 1917B us a 3 cell, measuring 1 5/8 X 9 1/2, and 1917C also a 3 cell, measuring 1 5/8 X 11 3/4, taking the 1829, No #1 and #2 cell packs accordingly. The #1 took 3 D cells, while the #2 took 3 E cells. Some people mistake the F and E cells, the F cells are those still found in the 6 volt lantern batteries, while the E cells were used in the British 2cell #800 side by side bicycle battery pack, as well as the 3 cell flat pack used in the old Eveready candles and such. The E cells were just a tad shorter than the F cell.

By the way, I was at the convention in Cleveland, also hosted one here in Columbus, OH. Good times!