Vapo-Cresolene Vaporizer

Object/Artifact

-

West Virginia Mine Wars Museum

Name/Title

Vapo-Cresolene Vaporizer

Entry/Object ID

WS.0006

Description

Small kerosene lamp positioned under metal dish.

Use

Lamp heats metal dish to vaporizer "cresolene", a coal tar byproduct sold as a respiratory cure-all.

Collection

Household Goods

Made/Created

Date made

1879 - 1957

Notes

"Made In U.S.A."

Parts

lamp chimney, font/base, and metal dish are easily removeable

Material

Glass, Metal

Exhibitions

Exhibition

Life in the Coal Camps

Notes

Household Items case

Research Notes

Person

Shaun Slifer

Date

Nov 20, 2020

Notes

Coal tar is one of the byproducts of industrial processes that convert coal into coke or gas. Coal tar and its derivatives have been used in ointments, shampoos, analgesic drugs, and disinfectants. One of its forms, cresol, was marketed as "Vapo-Cresolene" beginning in 1879. The Vapo-Cresolene vaporizer was sometimes called a lamp because it is similar in appearance to a kerosene lamp, and used the same fuel to heat the liquid cresol with an open flame. The company claimed that inhaling the resulting fumes would cure numerous respiratory diseases, including pneumonia, whooping cough and diphtheria. These claims were debunked by a report of the American Medical Association in 1908. Despite this, the product and its vaporizers continued to be sold as late as the 1950s. (https://www.woodlibrarymuseum.org/museum/item/758/vapo-cresolene-vaporizer)