Tweet
Today, I decided to get ambitious. It may be months before we get our historic building down, so it can be open to the public. I decided to go ahead and find the antique lighting for our 1912 White Hearse. Find them I did, and I have photos of them now on the car. We take lighting for granted on vehicles today. In the early days of the automobile, lighting was very optional. The first Ford Model T was sold with headlights as an option. We'll over a period of time. I had found period correct lighting for the 1912 White. The most impressive of the lights are the big Hearse lamps. Concave glass panels, with metal plumes on the top. Although some hearse lights were rather plane, these represented among the more detailed ones available. White had electric lights on their more expensive vehicles in 1912, and gas lights on the smaller whites, and the commercial chassis. I was fortunate to find a pair of large gaslights that fit the fork. Model T Gas lights are easily available, but somewhat smaller. The cowl lights are from Great Britain, but not to different from the ones that were on the coach, and unfortunately removed before I located her. These are called "bail lights" and have a loop at the top, which would allow you to carry them as sort of a flashlight if you ran into trouble on the road. Otherwise, their main purpose was to let another vehicle see you approach on a dark highway. The only light I didn't locate was the tail light, but that's still somewhere in the building, and since for the time being the White is not yet operational, I have no doubt I will find it, before i put the vehicle back on the road (hopefully in time for it's centennial as a motor hearse) in 2012.