Glass oil lamps have accompanied Americans in all walks of life from the early 1900s and even extending into today’s modern era. When petroleum was cheaper than $1 per barrel, oil lamps were a perfect way to light homes efficiently and for not much cost. With cheap fuel readily available, many researchers began to look into ways to make the oil lamp better. One of the first improvements made to the design was the incandescent mantle. Instead of the standard wick that was used for hundreds of years, researchers added a cylindrical organic structure that was doused with the chemicals cerium and thorium. Adding these chemicals produced a much brighter light than a traditional wick and pretty soon, more than 4 million of these mantles were sold each year during the first part of the early 1900s.
Today, glass oil lamps are used more for the ambiance the provide, rather than strictly for the light they provide. With modern advancements in fuel, the oil available for these lamps is much cleaner and able to burn longer as well. Paraffin oil has largely replaced traditional oil and as such, oil lamps are much safer.
While kerosene lamps are still popular among outdoorsmen and campers, the liquid paraffin lamp has begun replacing it as well. Since paraffin oil is a cleaner source and burns with no smoke, it presents many advantages for campers who will be outdoors for a long while. Oil lamp supplies such as wicks and mantles have changed over the course of several years as well, as fiberglass strands are becoming a popular choice.
While glass oil lamps have outlived their usefulness in providing American homes with light, it is not likely that they will go anywhere soon, considering many people enjoy using them for interior decoration, rather than strict necessity unless in the case of a power outage.