Angle Lamp Replacement Parts from Aladdin Mantle Lamp Co.

Original Angle Lamps were manufactured from around 1890 until 1929. Replacement parts have been made since the 1940s. The quality of new parts has improved considerably over the past few years to the point where replacements may be confused with original parts.

New Angle Lamp parts by Aladdin Mantle Lamp Co. in particular are very close to the quality of original components. It's new colored glass chimney tops, for example, are made by Fenton Art Glass Co. In this article, Aladdin's CEO Rex Christensen explains how to separate new elbows and chimney tops from originals.

Angle Lamp Background

When burners are mounted on the tops of hanging founts, the font always casts an area of shadow under the lamp. Unlike burners mounted on the top of the font, horizontal Angle Lamp burners are mounted on the side of the fount at an "angle." The Angle Lamp company's name reflects the unique nearly horizontal position of the burner. Mounting burners on the side nearly eliminates the shadow under hanging Angle Lamps especially when two of more burners were used.

Separating New from Old

The easiest way to date colored glass chimney tops is to compare the shape of the top rim. "The original art glass chimney tops have a distinctive petal-shaped rim," said Christensen. "The petals are arranged with evenly spaced intervals and the semicircular petals are virtually all identical." (Fig. 6)

Rims on new colored glass chimney tops by Fenton are made by crimping. New tops lack the distinctive petals found on original chimney tops. Crimping is rarely the same from piece to piece and there is considerable variation in crimp depth and the amount of flaring among new tops (Fig. 5) "All the new chimney tops sold by Aladdin Mantle Lamp Co. are crimped, not petal-shaped," said Christensen.

Although the shape of the top rim is the best clue to age, color is another test. Christensen said that three colors available in new chimney tops–green, green opalescent, and a satin-finished green–were never made as vintage chimney tops. Any tops in those three colors are modern replacements.

Christensen's company also sells new elbows. Elbows are made in a mold now owned by Aladdin and worked by David Lynch in the U.S.A. The new elbows are marked "American Lamp" molded in the top rim (Fig. 13). Five new elbows are available including plain opal (milk glass) and clear glass with either plain, frosted or etched surfaces. As the elbow mold comes up for future maintenance, Christensen said the American name will be removed.

New colored glass chimney tops are not marked Fenton because the pieces are private mold work, not part of Fenton's own line of glass.

Aladdin Mantle Lamp Company was formed in 1999 by a group of private investors which purchased the lamp division of Aladdin Industries the corporate successor of the original Aladdin Lamp company. The new company manufactures and sells Aladdin lamps and lamp parts for Aladdin and Angle Lamps.

Fig. 1 The glass parts which fit over a typical Angle Lamp burner are named elbow and chimney top.

Fig. 2 Original double burner Angle hanging lamp made ca. 1890s through 1921. Shown with original chimneys and elbows. The metal founts are embossed with various patterns, this example is Grape.

Fig. 3 New green opalescent swirl chimney. This color was never made during the original period of production, ca. 1890-1929.

Fig. 4 New clear glass elbow with birds and flowers design. The original birds and flowers design was etched and is a dull nearly transparent gray. The new design is an almost opaque white.

Fig. 5 Top rims in new colored glass chimney tops are crimped, not petal-shaped. The handmade crimping means the depth of the crimp and the width of the flaring in new rims can vary considerably from chimney top to chimney top.

Fig. 6 All original colored glass chimney tops have a distinctive petal-shaped top rim. The petal rim is formed by evenly spaced semicircles of consistent size and shape. Petal rims are virtually identical from chimney top to chimney top.

Fig. 7

Figs. 8 & 9

Figs. 7-9 Many, but not all, original elbows are permanently marked with molded lettering. If an original shade is marked, the mark will appear around the top rim (Figs. 8 & 9), around the burner neck (Fig. 7) or in both places. The exact wording of marks varied slightly over the years but with only one exception always included the word "Angle ." Marks alone, though, are not a guarantee of age because new elbows by some manufacturers include some old-appearing molds marks. Faint poorly formed letters and a green tint to the glass around the burner neck are all signs of a new elbow even if it is marked Angle.

Fig. 10 New glass elbows by Aladdin Mantle Lamp Co. are marked American Lamp in raised glass letters.

Fig. 11 Some previous elbow reproductions had only one notch which was located at the bottom of the burner neck. New elbows by Aladdin Mantle Lamp Co. have notches both top and bottom of the burner neck.

Special thanks to Rex Christensen and Aladdin Mantle Lamp Co for loaning new lamp parts for photography.