Were there open bottom lanterns?

[micky]

Were there open bottom lanterns?

Perhaps I need a new outdoor front door fixture. The current one seems erratic. I want one that will turn on when someone comes to the door, like I have now.

Right now I have what is have is what is called a coachlight. s but I guess I want something different for a change.

I wanted to show you exactly what I want , but under Outdoor Wall Mounted LIghting, HD has 3900 items. Yes 3900!

The one I liked was rectangular on 4 sides, open on the bottom and conected to the wall at the top.

Something like this maybe with clear glass.

which it says has a "Traditional open-bottom lantern design with an aged-iron finish"

Really? There were open bottom lanterns? Is that true?

The one above looks something like an old English front door light, except that it's conected to the house at the top. How could that burn a candle or a kerosene or gas light, since flames go up?

So isn't it inherentely ridicuous, as nice as it looks?

Would you buy something that looks like a kerosene or gaslight but could not work like a gas light?

Or were there open-bottom lanterns?

[J Burns]

Some railroad lanterns were called bell bottoms. Others used a wire framework below and were called open bottoms. It makes sense that a man with a lantern would want to see where he was stepping.

Benjamin Franklin noted that English street lights began to get sooty from the time they were lit. They were closed on top. He used a funnel top to increase draft. He also enlarged the holes at the bottom.

I haven't found any examples, but in a sheltered location, I imagine an open bottom would improve illumination of the ground and make maintenance easier.

[gfretwell]

Street lights were open at the bottom so the guy could light them from the ground with a long stick

[Ed Pawlowski]

Yes, and you can still buy them

[micky]

Thanks Ed, J, G. You've convinced me.

My own fixture has been covered with ivy for years, so much that I couldn't tell if the light was on or not. Now that it isn't, sometimes it seems to work and sometimes it seems not to. (It was always hard to put in automatic mode, or permanently on, or know which mode I'd put it in.) If it can't make it work most of the time, I'll buy that one I liked.

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[Julie Bove]

I have open bottomed ones at the back of my house. They're electric. Not sure when they were purchased. House was built in either 1981 or 1982 but has been remodeled and the back was added after.