Aladdin Manufacturing Company records

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: MSS-244

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection includes issues of the Mystic Light of the Aladdin Knights, a bimonthly newsletter for collectors of Aladdin memorabilia and the products of the Aladdin Manufacturing Company, Aladdin Electric Lamps, and Aladdin Industries/Aladdin Mantle Company as well as a 2004 Aladdin Mantle Lamp Company catalog in Muncie, Indiana ranging from 1983 to 2013 regarding the lamp industry.

Dates

1983-2013

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries, Muncie, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Archives and Special Collections.

Administrative History

The Aladdin Manufacturing Company was founded in 1919 and established at 2500 S. Hackley Street in Muncie. The company produced Aladdin Electric Portable Lamps in a wide range of styles and prices. The Aladdin Manufacturing Company of Muncie was completely separate from the Aladdin Electric Lamps, a competitor located in nearby Alexandria, Indiana, and from Aladdin Industries, maker of Aladdin Kerosene Mantle Lamps. By 1925 the Aladdin Manufacturing Company was producing "all kinds of portable, desk, table and floor lamps, and silk and parchment shades." In 1927 hand-painted glass shades were also added. Lamps were sold locally through the Household Electric Store on Jackson Street, as well as through retailers in other towns and by mail order. The company changed its name to General Lamps Company in 1936 and moved its operations to Elwood, Indiana, in 1941. The General Lamps Company went out of business in 1959.

Extent

0.3 Cubic Feet (1 box )

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection is arranged by subject.

Custodial History

This collection was received by Archives and Special Collections as a donation from J. W. Courter on 1983/11/10.

Accruals

No further additions are expected.

Related Archival Materials

Materials relating to this collection may be found in the following collections in Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries, Muncie IN:

PSC.280: Aladdin Manufacturing Company photographs

SC.419: Mantle Lamp Company

Processing Information

Collection processing completed 2005/09/06 by Jane Gastineau. Finding aid created 2005/09/06 by Jane Gastineau. Finding aid revised 2006/01/01 by Jane Gastineau. Finding aid revised 2008/08/01 by Lajmar D. Anderson. EAD finding aid created 2011/04/26 by Bethany Fiechter.

Subjects

Catalogs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Delaware County (Ind.) -- History -- 20th century -- Sources Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Muncie (Ind.) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Muncie (Ind.) -- Photographs -- 20th century -- Sources Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Newsletters Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Stoeckel Archives of Local History Subject Source: Local sources