Lead Kindly Light
By ARM
@responsiveme (22926)
India
April 19, 2017 10:09am CST
Growing up in the 80s a daily chore for all the kids in our neighbourhood would be clean and keep ready these kerosene lanterns for the night.
More often than not the power would go off for an hour or two.The term was 'load shedding' , I suppose to conserve the electricity which wasn't enough to go around
Armed with soft cloth ,we would take out the glass case carefully , wipe it clean and replace it. Then open the cap at the bottom portion,pour in kerosene carefully through a funnel, trim the wick and place the lamps at a convenient spot with a box of matches nearby. Usually we would light one lantern and turn down the flame so that when the lights went out there would not be total darkness.
The lanterns had handles and in absence of street lights it was commonly used in lieu of a torch especially in rural areas when people went out . It reminds me of the story of the princess who was told to bring back fire and wind when she returned from her parents' place.. She made a paper fan and a paper lantern .
Then rechargeable lights of different types came in.They along with inverters are now commonplace and the lanterns like many other necessary household items have become obsolete.
Now I see them only in restaurants which go in for a rural decor but instead of the flame it is lit up by an electric bulb.They remind me of my childhood and the soft glow which they used to cast .
Have you seen these type of lanterns ? What household items do you remember that are no longer in use?
PS: My photo of the kerosene lantern
21 people like this
21 responses
@JudyEv (325815)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Apr 17
@responsiveme Sorry, a shade-house is a shed for pot plants. In Australia, because it is hot they are covered in a material which blocks out a lot of the sun. In cold countries, they might have glass-houses but Australia has shade-houses.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
25 Apr 17
@JudyEv thanks,the glass house absorbs and traps the heat the shade house keeps it away...Got it
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@LadyDuck (458230)
• Switzerland
20 Apr 17
@responsiveme My grandparents did not have electricity when I was a little girl, I think to remember they got electricity in the late 50's.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
20 Apr 17
@LadyDuck In the 80s we had electricity but no back up when the power went off
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
20 Apr 17
They were a part of our growing updays tillwe left for college.We even studied by their light during power cuts
2 people like this
@rebelann (111190)
• El Paso, Texas
19 Apr 17
Mom used those sometimes when we'd be in the back yard and she wanted to be outside for a while. She'd make sure to turn off all the lights in the house and we'd sit in the back yard and have our dinner, I love the soft glow of natural fire.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
20 Apr 17
You are absolutely right about the soft glow , I would love to have dinner outside but there are too many insects where I stay.
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@rebelann (111190)
• El Paso, Texas
20 Apr 17
So did we @responsiveme but we didn't care, we just kept the food covered. We also don't have as many flying insects as places with lakes or rivers.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
21 Apr 17
@rebelann Also creepy crawly creatures on the ground so eating outside wasn't there for us unless on sunny winter afternoons when we would take out a mat and have a picnic.
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@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
24 Apr 17
We always had one of those lamps on standby when I was young, but I don't ever remember cleaning it or filling it up myself.
There are so many items from my childhood that are not used now - flatirons that were heated on the kitchen range, washtubs and 'dollies' to stir the washing with, mangles to wring out the water etc.
Good post Arundhati
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@jaboUK (64361)
• United Kingdom
24 Apr 17
@responsiveme Here's a picture of it, and I wrote about it in this post:
One of my earliest memories is of my grandmother, sleeves rolled up, standing over a steaming iron tub wielding a 'dolly'. This was a large wooden contraption...
@responsiveme (22926)
• India
24 Apr 17
Glad you liked it.
I remember the mangle...it must be up with so many other unused things in the loft at my parents. But what are "dollies' please?
I remember the mangle...it must be up with so many other unused things in the loft at my parents. But what are "dollies' please?
@responsiveme (22926)
• India
20 Apr 17
Nice to know that they are in use.I understand that there may be power going off in the hurricane season.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
20 Apr 17
@Kandae11 So you'll need to get prepared in many ways for the hurricane season? being riceeaters we always see if there is enough rice in the house.
@Kandae11 (53679)
•
20 Apr 17
@responsiveme One year, the devastation was so great, there was no light water or landline service for over a week in the areas most badly hit.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
24 Apr 17
I took it out of the store room and set it up to take a photo for this post:)
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@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
24 Apr 17
We used to use them when we went camping but now your right, other options have taken their place.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
24 Apr 17
Some mylotters still use them while camping as I read from the responses.
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@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
19 Apr 17
We have a lantern that we keep ready just in case. These days the lights go out due to seasonal storms.
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@PatZAnthony (14752)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
21 Apr 17
@responsiveme Most we know have these here b/c there is sometimes a issue.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
20 Apr 17
Nice to know they are stillused...thats why they were called hurricane lamps
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
24 Apr 17
the other picture was a mangler..thanks for posting this.
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@PainsOnSlate (21854)
• Canada
22 Apr 17
I have and we used some very similar while camping and still do.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
23 Apr 17
nice to know you use similar lamps on your camping trips.
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@DianneN (246905)
• United States
24 Apr 17
@responsiveme I was only able to find lavender, but sandalwood is my most favorite scent. It's so rich.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
24 Apr 17
Oh those yellow soaps...If I get to see one I,'ll write about it.
The scented oil must give off a beautiful ambience...What scent.
Coincidentally had ordered lavender, rose and sandalwood essential oil yesterday
Thanks for liking my discussion
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@Iam_jauntyjen (4951)
•
24 Apr 17
I used to buy kerosene for only 5 pesos from our neighbor's sari-sari store (convenience store). We use "gasera" but we did not clean them up , my father would do it at night. Emergency lights were kind of expensive during those days.
But when we were in highschool, my mom suggested to my dad to buy a lamp it also needed Kerosene to light up the only difference was it is bigger than that and the light was so brighter than emergency light. i forgot how it was called.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
24 Apr 17
Good to know that so many people around the world use quite a lot of things in common, the timeline may have been different. Kerosine was kept in big jerry cans at our place.
@amitkokiladitya (171936)
• Agra, India
19 Apr 17
True....lanterns are now completely lost
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
20 Apr 17
With electricity and inverts, they have gone out of use.
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@amitkokiladitya (171936)
• Agra, India
20 Apr 17
@responsiveme yes... They became obsolete on my childhood only
@responsiveme (22926)
• India
23 Apr 17
Some of the people who responded that they still use one on occasions. I guess it was useful while camping.
@Tampa_girl7 (49007)
• United States
22 Apr 17
I found two in the attic of my house. They are very old and I use them for decoration.
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@MarshaMusselman (38659)
• Midland, Michigan
20 Apr 17
Did your family also keep one near the plants like this one is at? I'd think that could be a fire hazard, but I'm also a bit surprised that the kids had that as a task each night.
There are so many things we have now that we never had previously, and along with that we've lost some sentimental things from the past too. My dad built the house I grew up in and he put a built in bookshelf into the dining area of the kitchen. Along with that bookshelf was a record player and radio. He then worked it out that each bedroom and bath had controls for the volume of the radio. We could even listen to it when outside and near the front or back porches.
Even though we didn't have those lanterns at my home growing up I was introduced to them sometime later while camping. But, I don't really remember who it was that used them.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
21 Apr 17
No, I just put it up there to get a good photo...infact everybody was asking me why I was carrying the lantern out 
We were not small kids and it was quite a common task.
What a wonderful idea about having controls for the radio and record player everywhere.Our record player too is lying unused as is the whole set of records
We were not small kids and it was quite a common task.
What a wonderful idea about having controls for the radio and record player everywhere.Our record player too is lying unused as is the whole set of records1 person likes this
@chrissbergstrom (10767)
• Banks, Oregon
22 Apr 17
I remember kerosene lamps as my Grandparents used to have them ready when we list electricity makes me wish we still had them.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
23 Apr 17
It would be nice occasionally for camping or sitting out but I suppose electricity is here to stay thankfully
@Gita17112016 (3611)
• Trinidad And Tobago
22 Apr 17
We grew up with these. We had about six those days when we were not even lucky to have electricity. Cleaning and taking care off our lantern, lamps, flambeux and candle holders. Our very health depended on it. We also left a light turned down low...especially, if there was sleeping children. My experiences have been such that I always try to keep some kind of light nearby. We cook in fireside and I miss that too.
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@responsiveme (22926)
• India
22 Apr 17
The taste of firewood cooked food.....nothing compares to it!
The lamp turned low was our night lamp too:)
