When I was a kid in the early 1970’s our town in Kansas still used those! We used to pretend they were bombs and rolled them at each other!

Ohh I remember seeing those old highway torches around construction sites in a small town I lived in the very early 70’s as a young kid!🙂🙂 Great looking highway torches!🙂🔥

I have a recollection from my childhood of highway torches. It was 1960, I believe, and we had just arrived in Monahans, Texas to visit my grandparents there. My grandfather worked for Gulf Oil, and apparently a tornado had toppled an oil drilling rig, so I went along with him and my father to see the aftermath. While we didn't get too close, I remember the highway torches marking some of the debris in the night.

Our township road department use those as late 2004 when we had a lot of flooding on rural roads and ran out of battery flashers.

We called them smudge pots in South Georgia. Buddy of mine retired from the DOT that would mark road hazards or road construction in the 60s with them. They would look like cannonballs with a fire/flame on top. Those were the days! Thanks for the knowledge.

That Irwindale comment got me going 😂.

Nice Video! We here in Germany had similar torches made by Feuerhand, Rhewum and Enders. Those were mostly used and marketed for trucks in case of brakedowns. They work the same way but were only a hemisphere. They were in use 1960s to 1980s.

Good job Rob! Very interesting. I often see those when we are antiquing but don't pay much attention. I feel they don't get much love.

Omg those things are huge! Lol

Nice video Rob !

Thanks for another great video, Rob! For safety reasons I can see why they moved away from an open flame torch to the modern electric version. Also, I would be very interested in seeing you do a video on gas powered clothes irons.

I would love to see how construction sites were safeguarded back then.

According to google, kero gives off vapors at 110° F so if that's accurate, I can see how there may have been a few bombs on hot roadways if left to burn during daylight hours.

I have a question for you. I have a couple antique Dietz lamps that I have hanging in my Blacksmith shop. I use them sometimes at night when working in there. But I used "lamplight" paraffin clear lamp oil and when the temperature went down below freezing the oil turned to gelatin!! Should I be using kerosene instead in my Dietz lamps?

No Mkt. for them even cleaned up.

Where can I get a new wick?

do you soak the wick or use it dry?

@stevej4922

Ай бұрын

Soak. Just like the wicks in oil lamps.