The Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection
1162.2014.1
Primus No 71 camping stove
20/10/2014
Hermione Cooper
20/10/2014
Brass camping stove inside silver coloured stand
brass, aluminium
14(h) x 38(circumference) cms
2
On stand "MADE IN SWEDEN A/B b.a. HJORTH & CO PRIMUS NO 71" "AT" in circle on bottom of stand
On stove " TRADE MARK PRIMUS " with picture of stove "PRIMUS NO 71 MADE IN SWEDEN"
gold, silver
Primus
Sweden
Most, though not all unfortunately, Primus stoves have a wee code stamped on the bottom which tells us the year of manufacture. The AT on the bottom of this one tells us that it was made in 1954 and seems to have stood the test of time well - though we have given it a good clean.
The Primus company started life in Sweden way back in 1892 when a guy called Frans Willhelm Lindqvist registered his 'Sootless Kerosene Stove' - the world's first pressurised paraffin stove. The Primus company went on to produce dozens of different stoves for a variety of tasks, and dictionaries of the world got a new meaning for Primus - which, while still meaning first in Latin, now became a "portable, paraffin camping stove" and so universal was the word that paraffin stoves of other brands such as Monitor, Burmos, Hipolito and many others were generically called a Primus.
The dictionaries didn't actually get it quite right since not all Primus stoves used paraffin for fuel, as is the case with this one, which runs on petrol. There seems to have been various versions of the 71 as you can see from the advert opposite.
Mick Tighe bought this particular stove on e-bay for £20 in 2014. He's now looking for a 71L and a 71E!
Donated by Mick Tighe
20/10/2014
20/10/2014
Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007
20/10/2014