What about replacing the kerosene or whatever kind of oil it has, with
the liquid paraffin wax they sell for lamps. It is 99.9% pure paraffin
wax. Isn't that pretty inert? That way, it looks "real" without the
dangers of kerosene.

Sabrina Henneman

-----Original Message-----
From: David Harvey [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 12:47 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Kerosene Lamp-- to empty or not to empty?

As a professional conservator my opinion is that there is just too
much risk to have a flamable/accelerant such as kerosene present
within a collection or a historic or museum structure that is open to
the public, not to mention spaces that are frequented by staff.

To use a reproduction lamp in a living history context with trained
staff there to monitor and properly tend the lamp is one thing, but to
leave it sitting and unattended is another.

A battle that I constantly fought was the use of wax candles in
historic structures for living history programs. Real candles drip on
everything around and they can corrode brass and stain textiles, and
are a very real fire hazzard. There are plenty of realistic
alternatives to both candles and other historic light sources that are
available (see the special issue of the APT Journal on Lighting in
Historic Structures, 1999)

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Conservator
Los Angeles, California

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