Early Lamps and Smokestacks

Light has been a part of our lives for centuries. However, the electric light bulb that we use today is a relatively new creation. Long before the light bulb came on the scene, people were using torches to light their homes.

The first lamps

In early times, torches were used to illuminate people's homes. Torches soaked in pitch were found to burn nicely and create a bright light just as a stone fireplace did.

When the pitch wasn't available, they often used something else that wouldn't burn to coat the wood, with grease or tallow being the next choices. This allowed the torch to not only burn brighter, but also to burn longer.

What was the reason for this? There was more pitch in a torch than there was in a piece of wood used for kindle light. This brought forth the idea that only the pitch or the tallow could be used.

Thus, people then decided to place the pitch or tallow into a stone cup and then setting it on fire. Besides eliminating the wood entirely, these first lamps burned much longer than a stick of kindle light.

Solving the soot problem

Once people figured out how to have light for longer periods of time without the wood, there was another problem - the lamps smoked terribly, at least as bad as having a fireplace surround going.

What caused the smoke? Something was not burned up entirely. When an item is burned, part of it burns away and the rest goes up as smoke. The smoke was not burning from the wood, but instead the leftover bits of carbon.

Fire needs air. In order for the wood or other material to burn cleanly, the amount of air has to be regulated. Not enough air and the wood does not burn.

Too much air and the fire goes out. Soot in the lamps comes from whatever material is burning. When a lamp is trimmed like it should be, it does not smoke.

Creating wicks

Primitive lamps did not burn cleanly. They used up too much oil at a time, so a lot was left over as soot. In order to slow down that burning process, the wick was invented.

Wicks were made up of numerous threads, all tied to tubes that soaked up the oil. This allowed the oil to burn more slowly and kept the smoke to a minimum.

Early lamps with wicks were simply bowls of oil with a wick stuck into the middle. Vegetable oil was commonly used, brought from the Orient to Europe, as were many stone fireplace designs as well.

Solving the wick problem

One problem with the wick was that it burned down over time, requiring someone to pull it out. To do this more easily, a new lamp was designed with a spout that the wick was inserted into. It looked more or less like a teapot, though some lamps would have multiple spouts coming from them.

The multi-spouted lamps were then hung like chandeliers from the ceiling, with a bowl hanging underneath them to prevent the oil from dripping. All that needed to be done to keep the light burning was to add fresh oil and wicks as necessary.