Lamp, Gas

Object number2010.14.9

Manufacturer Shanklin Manufacturing Company

Date1920-1929

OriginSpringfield, IL

Mediumbrass

Credit LineGift of Marilyn Di Matteis

DescriptionBrass headlamp. Opening at top with lid. Round dish on front with striker; no wick. Hook on back. Engraved maker text on top and on base.Dimensions4 x 3.5 in. (10.2 x 8.9 cm)
MarksEngraved on top: "ON CUY'S DROPPER / PAT. 5.26.14-9.19.16."

Engraved on base: "MANUF'D BY / SHANKLIN MFG. CO / SPRINGFIELD, ILL. / U.S.A."
Historical NotesPart of a collection from donor Marilyn Di Matteis' family. This railroad headlamp belonged to donor Marilyn Di Matteis' maternal grandfather when he worked on the railroads between Dennison, Ohio, and Weirton West Virginia. The collection represents three generations of donor Marilyn Di Matteis' family of Italian Americans in the Western Pennsylvania area. Her father was born in the United States, went back to Italy, and then returned as a young teenager in the mid-1920s. His family stayed behind in Italy. He had a very difficult relationship with his father and revered his mother. The donor's mother (Elvira Martinelli) was born in Italy and came to the United States as a young girl, though she was never naturalized until the late 1940s. Her family settled in Dennison, Ohio, to work on the railroads but moved south to Weirton, West Virginia. The railroad work as not particularly constant, so other forms of work were often substituted, such as picking up vegetables in the Strip District when the train stopped in Pittsburgh and selling them in West Virginia to neighbors. The family also had a farm at various points in their lives. The young couple married in 1934 and bought a farm in the 1940s.

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