SALES OF OIL LAMPS

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25207, 11 June 1947, Page 6

SALES OF OIL LAMPS

FUEL STOVES ALSO IN DEMAND The shortage of electricity has stimulated the demand for alternative lighting, heating, and cooking appliances, and shops in Christchurch report hundreds of sales. Some types of appliances have already been sold out, and others are in extremely short supply. At a recent auction sale conducted by a Christchurch firm, £ll 10s was paid for a second-hand petrol lamp, and a kerosene table lamp was sold for £lO. Hanging lamps are not in such keen demand, but sales at £3 have been reported. Second-hand hurricane lamps are being sold at auction for upwards of 255. Their original cost before the war was from 6s 6d to 9s. Retailers expect a consignment of new hurricane lamps in Christchurch in about a month’s time. The price will be about 22s 6d or 25s each. Small petrol stoves, with an ordinary market value of 30s each, are being sold at auction for upwards of £3 15s. There has been keen demand for small portable fuel-burning caravan stoves, selling at nearly £6 each, and supplies are now practically exhausted. Some householders with no cooking facilities other than electric ranges are installing these stoves in open fireplaces. There is also a moderate demand for portable fuel heating stoves, retailers say.

Batteries for electric torches are in limited supply in Christchurch. Yesterday, a number of shops obtained consignments, and these wefe rationed out to customers. At one department store yesterday afternoon, a long queue formed up at the counter where torches and batteries were being sold. 4 Shopkeepers are also exercising their ingenuity in devising improvised lighting fixtures- One supplier has built hundreds of small stand-by electric lamps, each comprising two fairly large storage batteries linked up to a torch bulb equipped with a reflector.