Let It Shine!
Vintage Flashlights - and More
We now have over 500 vintage flashlights here at gotalight.net to share with you, or close to it. We have some that are really antique flashlights, being over 100 years old. We have vintage lanterns, vintage vest pocket lights, vintage candles and some vintage battery operated lights. We also want to have some good information, some reliable resources, and a few tips & tricks that might help you with any issues or questions you come across, while collecting these old vintage flashlights or lanterns.
Please Note: As of 2025 - I'm not adding any more vintage flashlight galleries to the website. From time to time, I may add a new flashlight find, (something I could not pass up) to the Show & Tell Section now and then. I'm only adding to my USALite flashlight collection, that's all I collect now. Also, no more updates thought out the site. What's already on here, stays the same. Thanks for all your emails over the years! Happy Hunting.
Website Note: I have worked on the galleries so you will be able to read the information about the flashlights better. Not perfect, but better. Not sure how this will work on cell phones. I also fixed a few bugs throughout the website.
For your viewing pleasure, we have some old vintage flashlights and battery ads here and there, from back in the day in some of the flashlight galleries. Plus four galleries of old flashlight catalogs with photos and information, (two by Eveready, one by Bond and one by Ray-O-Vac) and one gallery of paper ads for USALite flashlights, showing some nice displays. Hope you enjoy your visit and learn something new, find a new tip or see a flashlight you've never seen before.
Gotalight.net has grown to over 40 pages, including over 30 galleries, (including the lighter section) on Gotalight.net. One last thing. If anyone has any information, on any flashlights, feel free to share it not only with us, but for other collectors as well. As always, you will get the credit.
The dates on my flashlights and lanterns come from other sources and may not be correct. Having a patent number, (the pat. number on the switch, could be only for the switch, same with the end cap, and maybe even the body) a serial number is always helpful, as is a dealer's catalog as for what year they came out. The rest is just guess work. Sometimes, that's all we have.
I will keep adding to the Show & Tell section from time to time. I keep asking myself - will this madness ever stop? Talk about the madness. I also have a collection of 45 or so LED flashlights! I like very bright lights up here in the mountains. I want to see what's looking at me from 100 yards away or more. NOT 30-50 feet! So I use my Acebeam T-28 with a lot of throw. If I want to light things up outside, I use my FireFlies E-12. No more fear of the dark! Over 6500 lumens. My EDC is my FireFlies EO7. Some place in Ohio, there's a vintage flashlight collector shaking his head, as in... shame on me! But... I found out he carries one in his brief case.
Besides the flashlight galleries I also have some interesting flashlights in our Show & Tell Section you might want to check out. I share some of my better finds with some information on the flashlights you won't read in the galleries. So step right in and see the longest flashlight in the world.... well maybe not the world, but, in my collection. Not a 5 cell, not a 7 cell, but a WOW factor cell.
If you have a special flashlight or lantern that does NOT work or looking for that battery pack that's no longer made. We have a resource for that in our Flashlight Repairs section. The flashlight 'Doctor' can help!
Another interesting gallery is the 3 in 1 Flashlights. Some folks call these Search Lights, Railroad Signal Lights or 3 Way Lights. Steve Giterman put together a nice article on these interesting vintage collectibles. I just found another one, that just might be the rarest one of all? That brings the total up to 9 different... 3 in 1 flashlights! NOTE: Anyone with any information on these lights, please send me an email or if you have one that is made by another company, let me know! If we use your information, you get the credit.
Good luck to all of you - on finding that rare flashlight you've been looking for - it's out there somewhere waiting to be found?
