In “A” (Jan. – June) 1951 Coleman was making the 220D and 228D with green painted brass founts rather than nickel plated brass; compare to the Model 200, above right. The valve wheels on these lanterns are brown plastic and coleman lantern there is no decal on the side of the fount. The direction disk on this Coleman 237 is stamped Made in United States of America but hidden by the collar the word CANADA is stamped (upper right image, above the red letter A).
The plastic base is not very durable nor does it stay on when you lift the lantern by its handle. Place your finger over the hole in the air intake tube where the generator just came out of. Use an air compressor to blow-out the burner assembly by holding the air nozzle under the burner cap(s) and blowing air up into the lantern. This will clear dirt and insect nests out of the tubes.
If you want to drop the operating cost, then all you have to do is fill the tank with unleaded gasoline. At an average price of $2.50 a gallon, that will bring the operating cost to $0.07 per hour. The construction of the above 228B built in May 1930 includes a swaged bail that will only fit in the key slot on the frame member when it is under the frame. As a result the bail will not detach from an assembled lantern. This lantern is the largest and the heaviest product we reviewed.
Coleman only manufactured Model 228C after WWII, from late 1945 until early 1947, with some production overlap with Model 228D (below). Model 228C has the same features as Model 220C above including a green painted brass fount, screw-on pump cap, and yellow lighting instruction decal. This lantern, dated B (July – Dec) 1946, is in John Stendahl’s collection. This lantern is date stamped 7 9 (September ’27), six months before the L220/L228 lanterns were introduced. It appears to be an early version of those first instant lighting models with the same burner and T88 generator. The globe is embossed Coleman and Pyrex Reg US Pat Off Made in U.S.A. on the back (not shown).
Contact our team to talk to a factory expert to help you choose the right model based on your needs. This continuity clearly appeals to Wilmot and his personal Coleman collection coleman canopy is a show of respect for this timelessness. Wilmot says he’s also cleaned and shined up a number of lanterns, and gotten them working correctly, in order to give them to friends.