Because of what is going on with the storm and power outages (not that this will help those people right now, but it might be a good reminder...) I want to re-post about the "Button Lamps."
I just ran across this picture... and
wondered if you have ever heard of a "button lamp." Many years ago, we
got this idea from one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books called The Long Hard Winter.
These are easy and fun to make and if you ever find yourself with no
electricity, no candles... nothing to make light with, please remember
this! All you need is a small glass dish or saucer, a button - not a
plastic button, but one made of shell, glass or wood, a small square of
cotton fabric, a piece of string and a match to light it with! The
reason you don't use plastic is that if the flame contacts the button,
you will have a cloud of toxic and not very nice smelling fumes coming
off of it.
Cut your cotton fabric large enough to wrap tightly
around the button and use the string or thread to tie it on, leaving the
little pointy ends sticking up. Then, put some sort of oil or fat (Ma
Ingalls used axel grease I think!) into your dish... don't use very
much. You don't want to drown the flame. Put the wrapped button into
the fat and get a little bit of it on the "wick" and then light it!
This makes a very satisfactory light in an emergency.
One time,
many years ago, the power went out. The children got busy making button
lamps. We had several of them (more than we needed!) lit and happily
giving light to our home, and then of course the power came back on! We
were sincerely dissappointed!
I always wished that the power would go out when we were kids so we would have to use candles and make these. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a good thing to know.
ReplyDeleteYes~!
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