In The Beginning...

The Aladdin lamp became a reality when Johnson acquired improved center-draft burners patented by Charles E. Wirth (assignor to Plume and Atwood Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Connecticut). Early in 1909 Johnson introduced the Aladdin lamp. He derived the name from the famous story, Aladdin; or The Wonderful Lamp where a magician offered new lamps for old.
The initial sales of the Aladdin were beyond all expectations. It was so much more efficient than other mantle lamps—to say nothing of the conventional flat and round wick lamps of the day—that it quickly made other kerosene lamps obsolete. Soon the Aladdin could be found throughout the United States and Canada, and ultimately it made its way around the world.
Johnson established a small research department early in the history of the company. His recognition of the need for improving quality through research was ahead of the times. Today a research and development department is considered vital by virtually all manufacturers.

Undoubtedly the preeminence of the Aladdin through a half-century of competition was due to the continual development of improved models to provide dependable operation, increased illumination, greater safety, and, in general, a “foolproof” lamp. These achievements were largely the results of research accomplishments by Charles H. Smith, Cortland W. Davis, W. B. Engh, Fred Spangler and Eugene Schwarz.
The first major breakthrough were inventions, that led to Model No. 3, patented in 1911 by Charles H. Smith (assignor to The Mantle Lamp Company of America, Chicago, Illinois). Model 3 featured a combined mantle cap and burner cone (KoneKap Mantle), improved construction and a new air distributor or gasifier (flame spreader).
The KoneKap mantle was the first mantle to be made by the company itself. In 1911 the company claimed to be the “only lamp house in the world that manufactures its own mantles.” The company furnished mantles for competitive lamps as well as for the Aladdin. The Lox-On® mantle, commonly used today, was patented in 1931.
Fifteen models of Aladdin lamps have been made in the United States since 1909. Domestic manufacture was suspended in 1963 and Models 21C and 23 were imported from England and Model C from Brazil. Not all models made in England were imported for sale in the U.S. More recently, Model 23 lamps have been made in Hong Kong. Aladdins (lamp bowls and fonts; not burners) were also made in Argentina and Australia.
$1000 Reward.
In 1915, Model 6 earned a gold medal and a blue ribbon in competition at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco. The Mantle Lamp Company boldly proclaimed the Aladdin as the best kerosene lamp in the world. An offer of $1000 was made for any oil-burning lamp that could equal the Aladdin in 26 important features. This offer was never collected.
The Mantle Lamp Company established subsidiaries in Greenford, England (1919); Sydney, Australia (1923); and Buenos Aires, Argentine Republic (1925) to distribute Aladdins around the world.

In 1926, The Mantle Lamp Company acquired the Lippincott Glass Company land and buildings on the outskirts of Alexandria, Indiana. A new, large, modern factory was built on the thirteen-acre site which was later incorporated as a village with the name Aladdin. With just 22 residents, Aladdin was the smallest town in Indiana in 1928.
The new factory was built at a time when there was still a large market for kerosene lamps. As the 1930s approached, an estimated six million farm homes depended on kerosene or gas for lighting. Aladdin now manufactured its own glass chimneys, shades and lamp bases. The company soon followed by making their own mantles, wicks and fabricating metal lamp bases in Alexandria.
The development of improved Nu-Type side-draft burners, introduced in 1932-34, permitted the use of glass for lower cost and design of colorful fonts. In the ten-year period following introduction of Nu-Type burners, Aladdin produced many of its most beautiful and collectible glass kerosene table lamps.
Electric Aladdin lamps were sold beginning in 1930. Unique deco designs made Aladdin electric lamps popular in major cities during the 1930s and 1940s.

              

                     early 1900's   the beginning   the war years   changing of the guard