Saturday Nov. 30

Finished a letter I have been writing to Jane.  Snow on the ground and the trees look beautiful in their feather robes.  William went to Marietta and got us a variety of "little notions", conveniences for the winter.  He got lamps and coal oil which we are going to burn this winter by way of experiment.  Lucy came home with him.


Peggy's comments:
Jane Dawes Shedd was Julia's niece (and the sister of Kate, Lucy, Rufus and Ephraim Dawes).  She married in 1859 and immediately left for Persia with her missionary husband.  They would spend most of the next 31 years there.

Coal oil (kerosene) was distilled in large quantities in 1856 and tin lamps were introduced.  Because of widespread railroads, lamps and coal oil could be shipped efficiently.  I'm not positive that the lamp in this ad is exactly like the one William brought home for experimentation.  I found several old ads through a Google search that advertised their lamps as being non-exploding.  Wow!