Early Personal Lighting

America's colonists carried a variety of personal light fixtures, such as lanterns, chambersticks, and even pocket-size candleholders, sometimes regarded today as "colonial flashlights." A select few of today's most skilled tinsmiths and blacksmiths continue to reproduce these items, mostly to satisfy demand from the growing numbers of Revolutionary-era and Civil War re-enactors. This article explains the history of these lighting devices, plus I talked with several of the leading artisans who are still making them in the traditional ways.

Click here for the article.