Bisbee Arizona Copper Queen Mine Used Guy’s Dropper Carbide Lamp Pair

Description

This pair of Guy's Dropper acetylene lamps were made by Shanklin and have a patent date of 1925.
Purchased in the 1960's in Bisbee at an estate sale in Warren Arizona, near the Copper Queen mine.
The early copper miners in Bisbee, Arizona had been mining by candle light for 30 years and were reluctant to convert from candles to carbide lamps. The transition from mining by candle to lamp was not initially accepted by the original copper miners from the late 1800's. Modern day cavers prefer these antique lamps to this day.
The lower chamber of these lamps contained calcium carbide, the upper reservoir was filled with water. The threaded valve controlled the drip rate for the water to drop into the lower chamber, producing acetylene gas. The by product of this process was a wet paste of slaked lime which was collected and used to make cement. The bright reflectors projected the light outwards.