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Industrial Design from the 1800s: This Portable Victorian Travel Light

Spring-loaded candle, suction cup, ball-socket arm

By Rain Noe - September 11, 2023

in Lighting

When did industrial design start? History books might say 20th century, but that's wrong; that's just when the term "industrial design" was coined. The Industrial Revolution started in the 18th century, and people were designing mass-manufactured objects back then, too.

This cleverly-designed object was patented in the 19th century, in 1886. Uncovered by Christopher Clarke Antiques, it's a travel light, meant to be carried on nighttime trains by passengers.

The curved dish up top is the reflector. The cylinder is sized to hold a candle, and there's a cap with a hole in it to admit the wick. The cap fits onto the cylinder via a bayonet fitting. A spring in the bottom of the cylinder pushes up on the candle, so as it burns "down," the lit wick is always protruding from the cap.

The arm terminates in a plate with two mounting holes. But for portable use, there's actually a primitive suction cup on the back of the plate; it's meant to be attached to a train carriage window, so that you can read while you ride.

Incredibly, the arm attaches to the cylinder via a ball socket, so you can actually tilt the light upwards or downwards.

Obviously the object required regular maintenance; while the description doesn't say, I'd wager that the bottom of the cylinder is also a bayonet-fit cap, so that you can remove the spring and clean the melted wax out of the cylinder, poking it from one end or the other.

Check it out in detail:

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Jim McDonnell

a year ago

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Agreed - the inner material of the 'cup' seems to be wood, not a great material for suction. It looks like a spacer/washer to stop the thin metal base being deformed by the screws used to fix it to whatever surface it goes on... I'm unconvinced of the accuracy of most of the speculative waffle in the video. I can't see much compelling evidence of its 'travel' credentials.

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A B

a year ago

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I'm not a historian, but by the shape of the "cup", I don't think it can act as a suction cup. The 1866 patent for the developing stick had a better shape that worked as a suction cup. It's probably just a softer material so you don't mark the surface.

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