"All things Coleman" convention

Here's one that is very unusual. You've heard of people that collect anything...match sticks, gum wrappers, beer cans, etc. But, I bet you never heard of people collection Coleman products...especially Coleman lanterns!!

There are over 75 lanterns set up here...each one brought over for a Night Glow photo event on the last day of their gathering!

Here's a close up as they are arriving. All colors and models. Very cool!

When we arrived a the RV park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, we noticed a number of the trailers had large tables set up with lanterns on them. Odd. So, one afternoon, we took at walk around and found out that this is a get-together that happens up to eight times a year! These people LOVE their lanterns.

I bet most of us have had one of these in our lifetimes...maybe still do !

These bases are made of nickel, not chrome

They burn white gas, not kerosene. Kerosene burns hotter and brighter but  white gas is superior to kerosene in almost every way. Kerosene is dirtier and produces more soot.

This one on the left even had it's own carrying case to keep it safe. One of the guys made his own carrying cases out of wood.

People come to show off, buy and sell and trade information

...just one of the "booths".

The blue ones in the upper left were made by Coleman for Sears so there's no Coleman label anywhere on them. It says "Sears" instead.

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They are so colorful and, most of the people had a number of them lit so the area was magical.

Here is everyone with their individual lanterns heading towards the gathering.

What is White Gas?

White gas is a very pure form of gasoline that does not contain any additives and has only about 50-55 octane.

Some of the lanterns that we saw were made back in 1931! There were also some very elaborate and unusual ones.

This one was made to hang from the ceiling.

This one connects to a wall

This fellow had a 4"binder full of just mantles!

A gorgeous decorate table lamp. Many of the Amish communities around this area have Coleman lanterns throughout their buildings because they don't use electricity.

These two very large ones, are some of the most beautiful we saw. Don't you agree?

This is a very large one that was used to heat up a chicken coop.

This is an upside-down one. We put our hands over the top and could really feel the heat!

Here's part of the "magical" part at night when they're all lit.

Some very, very nice people. You can ask them questions and they are more than willing to talk about their passion, how long they've been in it, when and how did they get started. A part of life that we never knew existed. We're glad they were here at the same time us.

Hope you enjoyed this unusual blog entry. We sure did!

See you next time

Our journey so far. As of this writing, we're up in Connecticut.

steve/kim/katie

Gotta get Katie in here someplace.