Flavour of New Zealand
NZ popular culture 1960 onward
NZ popular culture 1960 onward
Some items of kiwiana that existed, died out, or arrived in the years since 1960. Click an item from the box below.
The Tilley Lamp derives from John Tilley’s invention of the hydro-pneumatic blowpipe in 1813. W.H.Tilley were manufacturing pressure lamps at their works in Stoke Newington in 1818, and Shoreditch in the 1830s. The company moved to Brent Street in Hendon in 1915 during World War I, and started work with paraffin (kerosene) as a fuel for the lamps. During World War II the Tilley Lamp was widely used in the British armed forces, and became so popular that Tilley became used as a generic name for Kerosene lamp in many parts of the world, in much the same way as Hoover is for vacuum cleaners. During the 1920s the company had diversified into domestic lamps, and had expanded rapidly after orders from a number of railway companies. After World War II fears about the poisonous effect of paraffin fumes, and freely available electricity reduced demand for domestic use. The company moved from Hendon to Ireland in the early 1960s, finally settling in Belfast. It moved back to England in 2000.
click on thumbnail to see full size image
Source
Jim Dick " A History of Tilley Lamps" ISBN 0-646-39330-8. Pic of red lantern by David Greenwood. Pic of 3 lanterns by oktouse iwc; a trader on Trademe.