Crusie Lamp and Betty Lamp
The primitive Crusie Lamp was popular in the 1600’s to 1700’s, and still widely used into the 19th century by poor households. A simple lamp, the Crusie is basically a formed metal bowl to hold fuel (oil) with an indentation or channel to hold a wick. This was a durable improvement over the clay pottery lamps of ancient times. The word “crusie” is of Scottish origin and seems to have been derived from cruse, meaning “a vessel for oil.” In Cornwall they were called chills, and in the Channel Islands they were called cressets. The designs remained the same, but some lamps had multiple channels to accept multiple wicks to increase the lighting. Because unburned oil would drip from the wick onto the ground in waste, another bowl was placed under the the main bowl to catch this oil. These lamps are called Double Crusies or Phoebe Lamps. As a basic use item, Crusie Lamps were rarely ornate or made with fine metals, but there are always exceptions, as seen in the extant examples below.
English, 1730, brass;
American, Double Crusie with rooster motif in iron and tin;
Dutch, 18th century, brass, double 4 wick Crusie;
19th century, brass;
4 wick iron Crusie;
wrought iron Double Crusie;
18th century Double Crusie or Phoebe Lamp
Betty Lamps evolved in the 1700s as an improvement on the Crusie Lamp. In fact, the name itself comes from the German word “besser” which means “better, or to make better.”
Unlike the open Crusie, the Betty Lamp added a cover to the top to confine the heat, decrease smoke, and make the oil burn more efficiently. Most importantly, the addition of a wick holder inside the oil reservoir allowed oil from the wick to run back into the lamp’s bowl, preventing it from dripping onto the ground to be wasted. Although an improvement over other spout lamps (of which there were many varieties), Betty Lamps were still rather messy to deal with, so were most often used by farmers and tradesmen rather than the quarters of the wealthy.
Betty Lamps were typically found made of sheet steel, but are also found in tin or brass. They have a hook on top to hang (see the image to the right) or can be sat onto a flat surface. The simple Betty Lamp produced excellent light for that period of time. The larger the size and better the material used for the wick effected the light output.
Animal oils or grease were commonly used fuels. Fish oil gave the poorest light and was very smoky. Animal fats were better but still burned with an odor. Whale oil produced the best light, equal to that of two ordinary candles, so was most sought after but also the most expensive.
While more efficient, the Betty Lamp did not replace the Cruise Lamp. Both were very common and used well into the 19th century.
American, 1834, brass, copper, and wrought iron;
Canadian, ca.1800, painted Betty Lamp;
brass and wrought iron, miniature Betty Lamp, late 18th century;
iron with heart motif;
French, 18th century, wrought iron;
wrought iron, 18th century
Hi Ms. Lathan! My name is Steve Gaydica and I am a director of the Moore County (NC) Historical Association and the head docent for the Shaw House in Southern Pines, NC. Our association has two excellent examples of the Crusie and Betty lamps. Your blog article about these lamps was well-written and researched.
I am starting a new column in our newsletter featuring artifacts our association has collected over the years. Copies of our newsletter can be found at our website moorehistory.com under “Event and News”. I tried to write an article but found yours so “on point” that I would be wasting my time trying to write a better one. Would you allow us to re-publish your article in our newsletter? We would, of course, include a “shout out” for your Darcy Saga series. I would add some information about the lamps in our collection, and would send a copy of the article to you for final approval before publication. Thank you for your consideration. Steve Gaydica
I have the English 1730 brass lamp you show. Any ideas on why there is a raised circular area in the middle? Also can you suggest some reference books on this subject? Thank you, love the article
Great article on Crusie lamps. The lamps were thought to have originated in Scotland and Crusie can be found in the Scottish online dictionary. Four channel (wick) Crusies can be found. I am lucky enough to possess a brass five channel Crusie with the hook and bowl ( another is on E-Bay).
Wow! A very nice collection! I have all of these lamps in my own collection. Your brief history is mostly accurate and I will not pick nits over terms. The only thing I would point out is the very top lamp is a specialized version of the ‘Betty’ lamp. The finials reveal this as a lamp used in underground mining and is of French make. In the mine lighting area of collecting they are called “frog” lamps, a pejorative reference to their French origins I suppose. The bird finial is a somewhat unrefined representation of a rooster. The rooster symbol has long been associated with wards against evil and in general a good luck charm. They were often included on this type of mine lamp for obvious reasons. I can’t imagine carrying one of these lamps with its feeble light source into the utter blackness of a coal mine, especially when carried into an area where firedamp was present.
What were the wicks made from?
Oh! What a great question, Steve! I confess I didn’t give it much thought, as the lamps seem far more “exciting” so to speak. In fact, I had to look it up because I wasn’t sure if my knee-jerk reaction of “cotton clothe of some kind” was accurate. As it turns out, it is more or less, but nothing is ever that easy. LOL!
To quote from TheLampworks.com — “Most wicks that you will find are made of cotton or other natural fibers. There were a number of attempts to make wick of other materials, such as wool, felt and fiberglass, but they don’t appear to have garnered a large enough share of the market to make them economically successful, and few examples exist today.”
You can read more here: http://www.thelampworks.com/lw_wicks.htm
Of course that is just one source of many, but it gives a great overview.
I may well write a blog on wicks since it isn’t that simple. We shall see!
Thanks for popping over and thanks for the question. 🙂
Interesting looking contraptions!lol
These aren’t particularly attractive (even the more elaborate ones) and certainly not portable like a candle. I do remember caravans we stayed in when a lot younger had gas lamps. Thank heavens for electric lights!