lantern

Date1925

Mediumbrass

Dimensions8 × 4 × 7 in. (20.3 × 10.2 × 17.8 cm)

ClassificationsDistribution & Transportation Objects

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, gift of John Fertig

Object numberPC1993.9.2.A

DescriptionThis brass caboose lantern encompasses a silver-colored cylindrical base, serving as a reservoir for the fuel, with a pointed, angled bottom edge. The top of the lantern features the burner, in a gold color, accompanied by the portion in which the wick would be at the very top. Below the wick is a small, circular knob, likely utilized for adjusting the height of the wick. Just above the knob, ventilation holes are visible, appearing in the shape of rectangles following the cylindrical contour, similar to windows. Many smaller, circular ventilation holes are visible on the flat, bottom surface. Sitting above the larger and smaller ventilation holes is a frame adorned with rounded ridges contouring the overall shape, with additional ventilation holes surrounding the flattened perimeter. The outer wick tube is dome-shaped and includes a small opening at the top where the wick emerges from. Attached to the body of the lantern is a flattened strip of metal, following the overall shape of the base, and extending out to the outside of the lantern, where it is flattened into two pieces, each containing two small holes, likely for mounting on a caboose wall or similar surface with nails. Dating back centuries, the emergence and widespread usage of railroads grew exponentially during and following 1860 to 1950, known as the "Golden Age of Railroading" due to significant expansion and technological development within railroad transportation. Partially coinciding with the Gilded Age, lasting from 1870 to about 1900, characterized by immigration for further economic opportunities and industrialization, the essence of both of these eras contributed greatly to the formative progress towards modernization. Incorporated on cabooses, usually the last railroad car connected to a train, a caboose lantern played an important role in communication, although this lantern likely appears to be a wall lantern, possibly mounted on the interior caboose walls for general illumination, specially built for enduring the train's abrupt movements.

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