Koehler #209 Safety Lamp

Object/Artifact

-

West Virginia Mine Wars Museum

Name/Title

Koehler #209 Safety Lamp

Entry/Object ID

WS.0038

Description

Aluminum-body cylindrical lamp with Pyrex enclosure and wire fastening hook.

Use

Illumination in underground coal mine, sometimes called a "possum lamp". The enclosure allows for protection of the flame from igniting gases and coal dust. Flames burned higher and with a blue tint when methane was present, while the flame would diminish in the presence of carbon dioxide.

Context

Underground mine safety technology.

Collection

Coal Mining Tools

Made/Created

Manufacturer

Koehler Manufacturing Company

Date made

circa 1940

Edition

Model #209

Material

Aluminum, Glass

Web Links and URLs

same lamp at National Museum of American History, Training film, Koehler & Wolf Permissible Flame Safety Lamps, 1973, US Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration (MESA)

Provenance

Provenance Detail

Family Heirloom

Exhibition

Lobby

Research Notes

Research Type

Donor/Source Information

Person

Wilma Steele

Date

Sep 2020

Notes

"My dad, Fonzo Charles had worked at Red Jacket, and later it was Island Creek, with an African American friend at Junior Camp: Red Jacket. They retired and dad moved to Indiana and was gone 20 years. He moved back to Mingo. He visited that old friend and that opossum lamp was on his porch. Dad told him his daughter collected mining things so they wouldn’t be lost or sold on eBay. He told him, give it to her and tell her to take care of it for us -- so here it sits safe." - handwritten note to Shaun Slifer for records