Oil lamps of yesteryears

The different types of lamps used by the residents in the pre- electricity days of Singapore. Electricity came to the kampongs and villagers at different periods. Those kampongs and villages nearer to the town or power stations had power supply connected to their homes earlier. Those in the remote areas were slower. During those days before electricity came to their kampongs or villages, the residents had different ways of brightening their homes at night. The most convenient way was by lighted candles. But there were disadvantages. There were different lengths and sizes of candles. The bigger ones were most costly than the smaller ones. Needless to say, the bigger ones burnt more brightly. One drawback was that when a breeze blew the flame would flicker. A stronger draft would blow it out. Those days I had never heard of any housing to prevent the candle from being affected by drafts. We tried to put the candle inside the chimney of a kerosene oil lamp, but the flame died out almost immediately due to lack of oxygen supply to sustain burning. Studying via candlelight was the most uncomfortable. The unburnt vapour of the candle affected our respiratory channels. The flickering light of the candle created different shades of shadows. The moving shades of shadows made our eyes very uncomfortable and thus affected out vision. Another means of lighting up was the carbide lamps. Those days carbide lamps were made by local tinsmith. They savaged tins of sufficient volumes and fixed the delivery tubes and flame nose onto the cover of the tins. The body of the tin was to contain carbide. After carbide was put into the tin, a small amount of water was poured over the carbide. The mixture would give out carbide gas. The lid with its attachment was put over the tin and slammed tight. The carbide gas was forced to flow up the delivery tube. A lighted match ignited the gas at the flame nose. The lighted gas gave a bright white light and the smell of gas too. The light went off when the reaction of the carbide and water wore off. The rocky carbide had turned into a soft lumpy mess. One had to carefully disposed off its waste before putting in new carbide rock. In the fifties I have seen those lamps being used by the hawkers at the night markets and wayang performances. Occasionally we used them when we had work to be done at night. We had to cut up water hyacinth and banana trunks to cook into pig feed. Sometimes we had to process coconut oil. These activities had to be continued from day to night because a delay might upset our farming routine. There were kerosene lamps of different shapes and sizes. The capacity of the oil container of each lamp determined the size of the lamp. The capacity of each container might be 100 cc, 200 cc, 300cc or 500 cc. The bigger the capacity was, the thicker the wick. In the bedroom we used the smallest of the lamps – 100cc. At night a small light was sufficient to tell us where we were. In the hall, where we studied, a bigger lamp - 300cc was used. Have you ever wondered why an oil lamp was made in such a way that when a chimney was fixed over the flame, and the flame did not go out? The answer lies in the holes of the chimney holder. When a flame burns the hot air above the flame rises. Fresh air has to move in to take its place. Well, the fresh air comes in from the holes at the bottom of the chimney holder. Try and block out the holes at the chimney older. The flame goes out. The chimney is to prevent drafts from blowing out the flame. After a prolong use, black soot coats onto the inside of the chimney. The black soot has to be physically removed using soap water and a brush. When a lamp is placed around a table, the reflector is removed, so that all around us would get the light. But when it is hung on the wall, (an attachment is used) the reflector enhanced the brightness of the lighting. In those days, the reflectors usually had shiny pictures of actresses. Occasionally we had reflectors of a cock crowing at a rising sun. On important occasions such as Chinese New Year Festival, a huge lamp – 500cc was taken out and lighted. We children were naturally excited. The way we felt and behaved towards each other was beyond comprehension. Most likely we seldom had such lightning at night and the whole place looked extraordinary bright and the shadows more pronounced. We played with the newfound shadows, staring at each other at different angles, dancing and jostling around with different tones and excitements. Those days the mata mata were especially strict on bicycles without lamps at night. So those cycling at night needed to fix a bicycle lamp. There were different shapes and sizes of bicycle lamps. A bicycle lamp was special as the whole structure was enclosed to prevent the flame from snuffling out by the moving air outside. The door to the wick served as a reflector. The kerosene oil was contained at the bottom. By the sides of the structure were two sealed windows of red and blue. The hot air escaped through the roof. There were holes above the oil container as air inlets. The lamp was anchored onto the front of the bicycle via a spring holder. The spring could absorb the bounce of the moving bicycle thus minimising oil spillage from the oil container. As a child I was very curious of this lamp on my father’s bicycle. I once played on the spring holder until my tiny finger was trapped on it. There was even a kerosene lamp meant to be carried around shining in one direction just like the bicycle lamp or the modern day torchlight. It is not meant to be hooked onto the wall. It is to be placed on a flat surface when it is not mobile. Hurricane lamps were not left out. These were usually used at pig sties, chicken coops and at picnics ground. During Chinese funerals, the hurricane lamps with white strip of cloth were usually placed at road junctions to show directions to the people who wished to pay respect to the dead lying in his home. A Pressure lamp. In the 60s the kerosene pressure lamps became very popular. They replaced the big capacity of the kerosene lamps. That lamp was unique as the lighted mantle gave very intense light. However, to light up this lamp required patience and understanding of its behaviour. The slightest nudge to the mantle would disintegrate it. To get it lighted: 1. Fill up the reservoir with kerosene. 2. Pour methylated spirit into the little dish just below the mantle. 3. If the mantle is a new one, soak it with methylated spirit before fixing on the nozzle. 4. Light up the methylated spirit. The mantle would burn leaving behind a compound of ash. 5. Pump up the lamp to increase the pressure of the kerosene vapour spray. Check the indicator whether it is fully pumped. 6. The mantle should give out a bright white light. If it doesn’t, turn the red switch on and off swiftly a few times to clear the choke in the delivery tube. It is easy to read the instructions. To carry out the instructions is another matter. Many unwritten incidents could happen. Some of them are: 1. The pump could not operate properly. 2. There is a sudden surge of kerosene at the nozzle causing a fire. If that happens, do not panic. Turn off the switch. 3. The incandescence mantle turns red instead of white. 4. The kerosene runs dry. Etc etc One has to work on it to gain experience on how to deal with sudden changes in the behaviour in the operation of such lamp. Those days in Singapore, the most well-known brands of such lamps were ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Eye’. Those lamps became very popular in night markets and homes. Kerosene Those days kerosene was on sale in almost all kedai. Small families used to buy kerosene by the bottles. The Gordon gin bottles were the preferred bottles. Each bottle cost 20 cents. The bottles were used most likely because the maximum volume cost more or less about 20 cents. My family bought kerosene by the galleons. We used a kerosene pump to transfer kerosene from the tin to a soy sauce bottle. From there we topped up the reservoirs of the various lamps. The kedai got their supplies of kerosene from a kerosene tanker who came every week. Besides using kerosene for lighting oil lamps, it was also used as fire starter to start a fire on a stove. It was also used to destroy ant-nests in the ground by using kerosene sprayers. The kerosene sprayers were actually insecticide sprayers. When filled with kerosene, sprayed the kerosene unto a lighted candle, the spray would burst in flame. The flame would shoot into the direction where they were aimed at. If we aimed them at an ant nests, there was little chance that the ants in the nest would survive.