Let’s start talking about all things lantern.

Did you ever have one of those hobbies or activities that started out as no big deal, but over time became sort of an obsession?  Well, about 12 years ago I took a weeklong tinsmithing class at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown North Carolina. 

At the time I had been making and selling different sorts of folk art and rustic furniture on the side for about 25 years and I still play around with some folk art here and there. But over time I had developed an allergy of sorts to sawdust and was getting bad migraines from the dust that got past the filters in my shop. So going to Campbell Folk School was a chance to try something completely different and easier on the brain and lungs.  The class was taught by Harry Krupenbach and Clinton Pitts and it was amazing. We made several traditional tin items such as a candle box, a mug, and a couple of sconces if I remember correctly. The Folk School is a dream, complete “camp for adults” experience. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to recharge their creative batteries.  I came home inspired and ready to start spending all my cash on tinsmithing tools and supplies.

For some reason lanterns appealed to me. We have a couple of colonial style tin lanterns made by the tinsmith Robin Hood and a piece by the late Dale the Tinker that I used as inspiration for my early attempts at tin lanterns.  We took a few to the Mountain Man and Reenactment events to trade and they sold. So I made more, and then here we are.

Over the past several years I have been gathering images and documentation for tin lanterns made before about the mid 19th century. It is interesting to study and try to reproduce the wide variety of lantern patterns that were available over the centuries.  So I have accumulated a large amount of information and images about tin lanterns that I am trying to put in some sort of order.

My plan is to put together a series of blog posts that explore the history and development of tin lanterns, and how they are made. I will be showing both historic examples, and examples of my version of similar lanterns.

Hopefully I will get organized enough to post in an orderly and useful manner. Time will tell. Stay tuned.