lantern

This lantern features an engraved scene that includes two steamships, as well as a passenger train moving through a forest. It was probably made as a commemorative item or gift, rather than for practical use as a signal lantern. The engraving indicates a connection with the Central Pacific Railroad, the California company that built the western portion of the Transcontinental Railroad. This 1,900-mile contiguous railroad line was constructed between 1863 and 1869 across the western United States to connect the Pacific Coast and the existing Eastern U.S. rail network at Council Bluffs, Iowa. Because construction began at Sacramento and proceeded eastward, all supplies had to be shipped from the eastern states around the tip of South America at Cape Horn or across the Isthmus of Panama. Supplies arrived at the port of San Francisco and were then shipped on barges up the Sacramento River to the western terminus of the railroad line. The two engraved steamships on the lantern, identified as Red Jacket and Black Hawk, may have been used in partnership with the railroad company to move supplies. The manufacture of lanterns for the railroad industry was a major component of many American glassmaking firms throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Railroad lanterns served a very important purpose, communicating signals between trains and stations. This lantern is what collectors refer to as a fixed-globe lantern, featuring a glass globe cemented to the metal armature so that it could not be readily removed from the frame. Such objects were among the earliest types of railroad lanterns, which were used primarily from the 1830s to the 1870s. Later lantern styles favored removable globes, which could be easily replaced when broken. Engraved: “CENTRAL / R. ROAD LINE / N.Y & SAN / FRANCISCO,” “SAN FRANCISCO,” “RED JACKET,” and “BLACK HAWK.” For more information about the history of American railroads, see John F. Stover, American Railroads, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. For more about historic lanterns, see Anthony Hobson, Lanterns That Lit Our World: How to Identify, Date, and Restore Old Railroad, Marine, Fire, Carriage, Farm, and Other Lanterns, Spencertown, New York: Golden Hill Press, 1991.