On a tour of a historic home in Waupaca, Wisconsin, the tour guide showed us a small, round lantern, about the size of a tennis ball or baseball. In this household, and not sure how common it was among other families, the children of the family who were headed up the stairs to bed each received one of these. Imagine how that might work.
That was their only source of light, and the amount of fuel oil could be regulated by the parent for how long they’d permit the child to stay up. On school nights, for instance, just a little oil to let them get situated, to let them read a little. On weekends and in the summer, maybe more oil which would allow them to stay up longer. The light flickers out, they had no choice but to turn in.
This was used about the turn of the century, 1900, and was a new look, to me, about night lighting. Has anyone heard of these lamps or have you seen them?