See the chart below for all the figures side by side. Light a match or lighter and hold it below the mantle(s). Open the valve one-quarter turn and wait for the mantle(s) to ignite. Hold a match or lighter to the bottom and allow it (them) to burn completely. If it has a strong really sharp smell, that is varnish from old gasoline that has gone stale. If it smells real bad you might need to tear it apart to clean the internal parts.
At some point after that the Civil Defense waterslide decal was added to this unfired lantern. This lantern and another one with the 1952 date and a CD decal came from a seller in Michigan. There was no other Civil Defense material with the lanterns or the mil-spec boxes they came in. One nice feature to note is that the Coleman is one of the only rechargeable lanterns that came with its own plug in block.
The first production of instant lighting lanterns was in March, 1928 when Coleman made the L220 and L228 (above- missing mica globe). The first pumps on Quick-Lite lanterns were “built-on” rather than “built into” the founts. This L427 lantern, in John Stendahl’s collection, is date stamped May, 1925, and has the pump top with the rounded handle.
Here they are starting from dimmest to brightest. The test was conducted in my shop which is a approximately 30ft X 30ft. The Lantern’s powered stabilizer jacks and power tongue jack make setting up at your next campground easier than ever before.
These instructions were written to help you safely light and operate an old lantern that you have not lit before, or has been in storage for a very long time. Two main features of the Coleman rechargeable lantern stand out. First, it can charge your devices such as your phone.
The globe is stabilized in the frame by an upper plate (middle image) and lower spring clips (upper right image). Takao Kimura, whose collection this is in, and I believe this is Model 216, one of three lanterns noted in the Coleman Shipping Records a couple of months after the 7 9 date. Coleman also made these LZ327 (left) and LZ427 (right) lanterns, known coleman canopy here by their Coleman numbers, for several retailers including Sears and Montgomery Ward. These lanterns have a separate post to support the burner; the air tube, which is curved in these models, opens below the mantles. The lantern on the left is in Doug Dwyer’s collection. The lantern on the right lacks its generator and is in Don Colston’s collection.
Model 202, the Professional (left), is dated Jan., ’55. This model was produced for 10 years beginning in 1954 For the first couple of years the burner cap was ceramic. The lantern on the left is in Jim Fulmer’s collection.
Second, the bottom of the lantern unscrews to reveal a small compartment that can hold your charging cable and plug in. With a bright 400 lumens, the Coleman Rechargeable Lantern doesn’t lack brightness. This is actually a good lantern to set on a picnic table at a state park or national park and illuminate your campsite. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material, both writing and images, without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. That night I purchased an attractive looking limited edition National Park edition of the Coleman Northstar Propane Lantern–in park ranger khaki and green. I loved that lantern so much I bought……a few more…..and then a few more after that.
Air from the pump is piped up to the top of the fount. Shipping records show several hundred were sent from July – December, 1924 (Becker). They were the first Coleman model to coleman canopy have a pump as part of the lantern. These lanterns are in Shirley Willard’s (left)& Dean DeGroff’s (right) collections. The Northstar doesn’t have a lot of fancy features.