Kerosene Finger Lamp

c. 1880s

"Wow, that's an ornate-looking mug" were the first words to come out of my mouth when I unearthed this recent relic hunting find. I would figure out later it wasn't a mug at all.

The earliest written record of a lamp was from the 9th century. In his Book of Secrets, a Persian alchemist living in Baghdad named al-Razi wrote about the device called "naffatah." Kerosene wouldn't become the fuel source for lamps until 1854 when it was invited by a Canadian physician & geologist named Abraham Gesner, who also shares the same birthday as me!

How did I figure out this wasn't just any mug? After cleaning the mug, I noticed an odd lip around the top that would have made it VERY difficult to drink from unless there was some straw-like attachment. Then I saw that the lip had a beveled edge to hold something to it. I thought for a second and googled "antique mug lamps". Boom! While I didn't find my exact version, I found one's similar shape and size. And learned they were called finger lamps!