Dan and Abbie Bennett - ICCC #1031Dan and Abbie Bennett
To our fellow Coleman collectors:

 We are enjoying the web site as well as the newsletters that we have received since joining the ICCC.  As many have included with their profiles, our family camped each summer all around the country with Coleman products.  I don’t know where the old Coleman metal sided cooler or 200a lantern ended up, but the 426D stove resides with my many others, has a new paint job, and is ready to work any time we need it.   As many have said, they were built bullet proof.

 My dad tells a story of our camping trip to Yellowstone when I was 10.  We had a neighbor with a Coleman stove who obviously had no experience with one and disregarded the information that came with it.  We watched him try to cook on it with tall yellow flames coming up around the pan and inappropriate comments concerning it.  Dad said “son go over there and show him how to operate his stove.”  I went over and asked him if I could help him get his stove working correctly and with his permission and the look in his eye of “kid, what can you do”, I turned the lever up, unscrewed the pump a couple turns, and pumped it about 30 times.  In just a few seconds, we had a blue flame, turned the lever down, and finished her off with a few more pumps.  My Dad, now 89, still smiles when he tells that the man said, “ I’m an engineer for a large firm and it takes a 10 year old kid to show me how to operate a camp stove.”

 I am attaching a picture of last summer when we took a group camping from our church, as well as a couple extras.  The pop-up, portable kitchen, picnic shelter, and tent are all fairly recent model Coleman but we did cook on, made coffee with,  and baked our dessert in our vintage Coleman oven on a 425c, and light up our camp site with a 200a, 242b, and a 321c. 

 It’s great to belong to an organization with common interests world wide as the Coleman collectors club has.  Keep up the good work to the officers and volunteers investing their time in getting out great information for a great hobby.

 Dan and Abbie Bennett

Good Hope, GA









Bruce and Pam Sheehe      ICCC #889 Bruce and Pam Sheehe      ICCC #889
The world of using and collecting Coleman camping equipment began for me in the early 1960’s as a boy in Johnstown, PA. When I was in the Cub Scouts, our den would go on camping trips with the scout master and we would use the red lantern, gas camp stove for cooking, and Coleman canvas tents. My parents and brother, Bill, camped many times in PA State Parks and at the seashore during my childhood years. We had a Coleman Tent, a 220E lantern, and a #523 military stove we used for cooking. My father, a WWII veteran, bought the #523 at an Army/Navy surplus store, and we used Amoco white gas to fuel it. On one camping trip the stove would not light. My father, who was not the fix-it-up type, became frustrated with it and disposed of the stove. He replaced it with a Coleman propane stove, but it was just not the same. I have wonderful memories of Coleman camping equipment that I used as a boy with my family and scouts in the 1960’s.

In the 1970’s, we continued camping at more PA State Parks. We visited Prince Gallitzin, Shawnee, Poe Paddy, Penn Roosevelt, Rickets Glenn, and Ole Bull State Parks. We also camped at New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland Seashore Campsites. The first lantern that I purchased for myself was a #275 lantern, which I have to this day. I graduated from Altoona High School in 1972, and spent busy student years at Penn State University, and then at the University of Pittsburgh Dental School. I finished dental school in 1979, and moved back to the mountains of Altoona, PA to start my dental practice. All the while, I camped as much as possible with my family and friends, and continued to use my Coleman equipment and have fun.

During the busy years of being a dentist, building my practice, and paying off my loans, I always found time to camp with my Coleman equipment. I married my wonderful wife, Pam, in 1986, but she is not much of a camper. We did go on several camping trips, which our two children enjoyed. I started finding Coleman lanterns and stoves at flea markets, and auctions. My brother got the bug too, when I shared my finds with him. We went camping a lot, and we really use our old Coleman equipment during our trips. I still camp six to eight times a year with my brother Bill. We USE our Coleman stuff, and the people near our campsite are amazed. "What is that, and where did you get it"? "That is really neat/cool"? "What does that run on"? "Is that tent made from canvas"?

I started to display my lanterns in my dental office, and my patients, particularly the men, were very interested. I would show them my workshop in the basement of my office, and how I fixed and restored old Coleman and other gasoline equipment. Then my patients started bringing me lanterns and stoves from flea markets, garage sales, and auctions. "Here is a present for you, Doc." My plumber and another friend who demolishes old buildings are my best sources of Coleman equipment. They find it in basements and attics all the time. When my friends go on trips and vacations, they often will bring me more finds for my collection.

During the winter, I take a break from camping, and look forward to working on my lanterns and stoves. I always have a project ready to work on in my basement workshop. When a patient cancels, or a winter storm comes to Altoona, I retire to my warm basement and the work begins again. I guess I have lot of lanterns and stoves down there, but don’t ask me to count them. I don't want to know. Most of my lanterns are stored in an old fruit cellar in the basement. Maybe someday when I retire as a dentist, I will move them upstairs, and open a museum. Then I could see actually what I have accumulated over the years.

I know that we Americans miss the days when we were a manufacturing country. We made great products (and still do to a lesser extent), that were designed by mechanical engineering geniuses with slide rules, by trial and error. They were made by craftsmen that took pride in their work and products that were so well made, that they would last indefinitely if properly cared for. They were overbuilt. I am always amazed that a 60 or 70 year old lantern can be brought back to life in a short time with just a little help and knowledge. Just take a close look at a 220B/228B lantern sometime, and you will see what I am talking about. I do think lanterns are like the old steam locomotives. They seem alive, with the coal or Coleman fuel that brings them to life. Collecting Coleman and other old gasoline appliances is a pleasure and a passion. The people who collect and repair them are the real treasure to be found. We are all saving our past heritage for future Americans to ponder and appreciate. Keep supporting the Coleman Company, and buy some new stuff. It is still all good.

Best Regards from Altoona, PA

Bruce and Pam Sheehe
















Chris Squier, (200apples)     Southern CA Chris Squier, (200apples)     Southern CA
Since the time I was a boy during my first trip to Yosemite Nat'l Park, helping to set up camp and watching my friend's dad lighting the family's Coleman Model 220E, I've been fascinated by Coleman lanterns. I also remember my first bacon-and-eggs breakfast cooked on a Coleman stove, consumed in crisp Sierra Nevada mountain air. 

When I began camping as an adult with my own son I knew I wanted at least three lanterns to add to my gear, so straight away I became more or less a collector of the mid-century vintage Coleman lanterns I remembered. But what began as a sidebar to this greater campaign has taken on a life of it's own, because of my affection for well-designed and well-made objects. Once I began having a better look at which Coleman products I wanted to use, I discovered more and more of the fantastic Coleman product line... so, naturally it was necessary to acquire two or three examples more, and so on. 

As my interest in Coleman grew, looking deeper into the history of Coleman products revealed stories of life as it was lived at that time, in regions of the country where there was no electrical service and of the constraints brought about by living and working according to the daily rise and fall of the sun. Even in periods of foul weather, the work had to continue, and continue it did with greater productivity. Coleman's ever-reliable products changed the way rural Americans worked, and this created an almost-universal appreciation of founder W.C. Coleman's ethic: "Coleman Products: The Best Of Their Kind".

My current interests of Coleman products represent only a very small part of the truly remarkable range of Coleman Company offerings of the last 100-plus years. I am also somewhat of a newcomer to the world of Coleman collecting; there are those here who have been at it most of their adult lives and whom possess the most remarkable and far-reaching collections of Coleman "water-white gasoline"-fueled tools and appliances: table lamps from the turn of the 20th century, kitchen ranges, refrigerators and other household products including irons for the family clothing.

I am proud to be associated with the other collectors of these fine products and I am proud of my own, however my collection is very small. Today I enjoy owning over 30 Coleman lanterns, the bulk of which were manufactured during the 1950s. I have a few stoves, too; some of which date to the '40s.

I live and work in southern California and as such I am fortunate to be able to come home in the evenings in mostly-favorable weather to light a Coleman lantern or three... I find it soothing and a great way to relax. When attempting to explain recently to someone what it was about these lanterns that I found so fascinating, I had to remember Deems Burton's elegant way of putting it:

"Fire and controlling it are as old as mankind, and predate the wheel. Before the dog and wheel, and after woman, fire was man's first best friend..."

Not only have I discovered that Coleman products have always been designed with safety a foremost priority and that they hold a century-old reputation for being the finest quality, I find them to be truly beautiful examples of industrial design. These are some of the nicest-looking tools and appliances created in the 20th century.

The benefits of collecting for me have been not only the acquisition of well-made tools for camping or off-the-grid living, but emergency preparedness as well. It has also been an outlet for my mechanical predilections and the association with other collectors via the internet has yielded new friendships. Traveling now for work or for play is another thing to be looked forward to because there is always another, forgotten, lantern or stove waiting to be discovered and given a new home!












ICCC #238  Dwayne Hanson  CA/MT ICCC #238  Dwayne Hanson  CA/MT
It all started in 1997 when I needed a part for my grandfather’s L427.   The lantern had passed from my grandfather to my father.  My father had then given me the lantern when I started camping in 1960 with my own family.  I had used it for 35 years and it had traveled across the country in whatever camper I had at the time.   It was always the brightest lantern in the campground.  But time had come and I needed a new generator.  So, I wrote to the Coleman Company to find out if I could get a replacement part.  I received a letter in return that stated, no, they did not have those anymore.  But the Coleman Company included information about how I could get obsolete parts from Leacock Coleman in Pennsylvania.  They also sent a list of parts they did have and a long list of model numbers.   Hum, I thought look at all the other models they have made.   That did it right there.  Also included was a brochure on the International Coleman Collectors Club.   They had a newsletter and did annual conventions.  This sounded interesting, so I just mailed it in and joined the ICCC.  

I began hunting local flea markets, swap meets and antique stores for all these models that Coleman made.  If it said Coleman on it I pretty much drug it home.  I would also find things that were not Coleman and I began to learn about the competitors.  The making of light from gasoline had a much wider history than I had imagined.  As I found more things I had more questions.  With the availability of email addresses for the club I was able to contact other members and get great help.  If someone did not know then they referred me on to another member.  There were many contacts made simply by email before I ever met anyone in person.  Everyone I asked was more than willing to help out and share little secrets that made a project come out much better.   The more I learned the more fun it became to restore another lantern or lamp that I found.  

Well, I had been doing this about three years and a newsletter came that the next convention would be in Wichita, KS and include a tour of the Coleman factory.  Now this sounded really interesting, plus all the people I had been in contact with were going to attend and I could meet them all.   So, I attended my first convention in Wichita in 2000.   Now I saw for myself all these things that Coleman made at the convention.  I met Herb Ebendorf and bought his book.   I met people I had been in contact with and more.  Many of the members I met for the first time at that convention have become great friends.   That convention hooked me.  I anxiously await the next one each year and can’t wait to go.  It has become as much about seeing the people each year as sharing the hobby.

The collection has expanded over the last 14 years and now occupies what is known as “the shop”.  A 10’ x 20’ shed building that houses both display and a work area.  Unfortunately, with the success in finding lamps and lanterns it has become quite full.    I primarily collect Coleman, but those competing brands have found a home there also.   I focus on lamps and lanterns, with only a few stoves and an iron mixed in.  I enjoy finding lamps and matching shades as they appeared in the catalog. 

Now that I am retired I divide my time between Montana in the summer and Southern California in the winter.  It has become the most enjoyable hobby that travels with me.  Where ever I travel it gives me something hunt for and the possibly of making a great find.   It is rewarding to find an old lantern that has not run for many years, spend a few minutes with it and it will fire right up.  Most need very little work to come to life again, while others need a bit more time and effort.   Either way they are enjoyable projects.  Two of the greatest joys has been finding and burning both a Model P chandelier (M burners) and a Model R Reading lamp.  Old torch light burners can be challenge and when they light it is the greatest sense of satisfaction.   I now mainly look for the oldest models I can find.  

My grandfather’s lantern is dated April 1927 and still runs faithfully.  Yet, it is now polished and retired to the display shelf.  Newer models have replaced it for regular camping use.  It leads the lantern line and is still the most prized lantern in the whole collection. 











Christopher Durbin  ICCC #947,  Or.  Christopher Durbin  ICCC #947,  Or. 
Growing up in the northwest, camping with Coleman appliances was the usual thing for me. From early on there were family camping trips; later came hunting trips, and backpacking/horse packing trips into the Oregon wilderness. Light and cooking heat for many of these trips was provided by one Coleman appliance or another, sometimes several at once. We used to marvel at the little red lantern that our hunting buddy Mark had used since the fifties. Mark’s brother once showed us an old Coleman suitcase stove that he picked up at a garage sale for $5. It had a cast iron manifold and still fired up on the old fuel that came in the tank, another marvel to us.

When I got married almost ten years ago, we received a new 414 two-burner stove as a wedding gift, a complement to our late model dual-fuel lantern. We splurged on a stainless Coleman cooler and forged our own new camping traditions with all-new Coleman equipment.

Then, about two years ago I was in a resale shop in downtown Seattle when I spied, on the bottom shelf in a far corner of the store, an early seventies green two-mantle Coleman lantern. A flood of memories came back to me. I was again a twelve-year-old boy in deer camp, huddled over my dad’s similar looking 220F, trying to keep warm in the pre-dawn chill. On an earlier camping trip I would singe the corner of my down vest on that same lantern while we had supper in camp.

The attraction was powerful, the price reasonable. The lantern was dusty but appeared to be in fine shape with good paint, little rust, and just a bit of fuel sloshing in the fount. I bought it intending to clean it up and use it on our annual camping trip. I took it home, but to my disappointment it wouldn’t light. I checked all the basics that campers with Coleman know to do, but still no go. I didn’t know what else to do but turn to the Internet for help. I found Frank Bebb’s site with instructions for a complete teardown and rebuild, but also, on Coleman’s website were some troubleshooting tips. It was most likely varnish in the tank from old gas, and the advice was to fill the fount halfway with denatured alcohol for a vigorous shake and an overnight soak. The next morning the lantern was burning brightly in my garage, and I was hooked.

My very next lantern was a twenties Quick Lite I won at auction. Again, I had to get on the ‘net for any information and lighting instructions. I hadn’t known that Coleman made lanterns that early.

Soon I went nuts and was bidding on and buying all sorts of lanterns I knew nothing about. A faded red 200A, one old Air-O-Lantern, a nickel 242C, a curved airtube lantern made by Coleman for the Yale company, and an odd-looking two-color beast the seller called a “Christmas lantern” were soon taking up space on my workbench. The more I looked the more kinds of Coleman lanterns I found that I didn’t have an example of, which is a curse for a completist with already obsessive tendencies…

I gave my dad a barn-grayed but nicely burning Quick Lite 327, and he immediately retired the seventies 220 from my childhood to make it his go-to camping lantern. When our friend Mark saw dad’s “new” old lantern on a hunting trip, dad was sent home with a box of lantern parts Mark had picked up at a flea market. It was a mostly complete slant generator lantern from 1929. I got it running with spare parts from Ronnie Hardison, who put me in touch with Warren Wright for the final missing piece. Learning the degree to which these two men were steeped in Coleman suddenly made me feel a lot saner. I soon had six slants in my collection. And then came a few two-burner stoves and my first Handy Gas Plant. Uh oh….

There was an invitation to join the Collector’s Forum, a visit with Cigar Mike [Merz] and his impressive collection right across the river from me, an opportunity to attend the national convention near Seattle, some informal gatherings with fellow northwest collectors, and lots of two-way Q&A and sharing on the boards. Seems I get to learn more about the hobby and the great people involved at every turn.

Two short years into this, running out of garage space and seeing my wife’s hands on her hips, I’ve had to temper my desire to own every piece of Coleman I run across and examine what it is about these old gas “toys” that I love. I’m a tinkerer and a problem solver. I enjoy well-made things, which older Colemans most definitely are. I love history and biography, which is abundant with the Coleman Company and in the stories of fellow collectors. I enjoy teaching and helping others. I enjoy the satisfaction I get from turning something old into something like-new and serviceable. And I enjoy the camaraderie with other gas-pressure enthusiasts, whose interests extend beyond Coleman to other makes as well. It’s a truly global group, one about as diverse as you can imagine, and there appears to be a lifetime worth of learning to be done.

I’m having enough fun, I hope to stick with it that long.