Vintage USALite Flashlights

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United States Electric Manufacturing Corp. incorporated in 1921, and is the company behind the Usalite brand, closed its doors sometime around 1959. The company, a flashlight manufacturer, had a long history, but was ultimately unable to compete with modern, mass-produced flashlights. USALite was purchased by NOMA in 1962. USALite flashlights/lanterns made in 1960-1961 have made in Hong Kong stamped on them.

United States Electric Mfg. Corp. (1921-1959)

You just entered - The USALite Flashlight Museum. Open 24/7.

I now have over 340 USALite items in my collection, but it's still growing. Which includes, flashlights, lanterns, penlights, pocket lights, paper ads, batteries, battery testers, printer blocks for paper advertishing, flashlight boxes, USALite letterhead and five displays. This also includes one hard to find USALite bike light. Counting just lights of some kind, (flashlights, penlites, lanterns) is now over 230.

View Early USALite 3 Cell Battery Here »

This 3 cell battery has the same USALite logo as the battery tester, which I think might be the earliest USALite logo - early 1920's. The flashlight seen here has a pat. date of Dec. 1918 on the switch, which is the earliest pat. date I have found. They also had pat. dates of 1919. NOTE: Some experts I have talked with say, some flashlight Mfg. had early pat. dates to show they have been in business earlier than they really were. The battery is 7 inches long.

I have always wondered if USALite had any candle lights? Now I know they did with this rare find. Works off 2 C cell batteries, the lens is made of plastic, body is metal. Has USALite, pat pending printed on the bottom. Pick the candle up and it turns on, set it down to turn off. Stands 7 inches tall.

Very nice condidtion with no dents, scratches or rust. I'm thinking from the 1930's, maybe the early 40's. Took me years to find and well worth the wait! Now I have two of'em, even better.

What does a USALite letterhead look like? View Here »

Here we have a United States Electric MFG Corp. - USALite letterhead dated June 13 1952. Paper work for a repaired redhead case and lamp. Shows RH22, which would be the number in their catalog for the redhead model shown in the upper right of this letterhead. It also shows - no charge for the repair.

Please Note: I'm always looking for USALite flashlights I don't have, and other USALite items to add to my collection. Maybe you have something of interest? If so, please email me.

USALite made other flashlights for GM and Phillips 66, beside the redheads. Take a look. View Here »

Having the proof always helps! USALite made this style of flashlight for Phillips 66 in a 2 cell and a 3 cell. They also made the 2 cell model for GM. This photo was taken from a GM catalog. The flashlight is the GM redhead above it. Both will have the GM logo on the end cap, not USALite. You'll find the USALite end cap on these models also. Came in four versions as far as I know.

usalite We'll start out with the USALite Swivel-Head flashlights. You will see eight maybe nine different swivel-heads in this gallery. I'm missing one that we just don't see come around. That's the solid green swivel head, with the black body. I have the one with the solid red head, (not red swirl) black body shown below. The Flashlight Musuem calls these, ceramic heads. I'm not so sure, as they feel like a hard plastic, just like the black swivel heads.

Not all the swivel heads came with the name plate, same goes for the ring hanger, some had'em and some didn't. Also, some have a ribbed end cap, and some have a smooth end cap. You will also see the red swirl swivel head with and without the name plate. The first one I have seen without the name plate.

As seen above - the redhead swivel-heads have different reds, some have swirls and some don't, some are darker than others. Maybe over time some have faded? Either way, the different reds make'em different from each other. And another reason, to collect another one!

If you haven't noticed this before, why is this the only swivel-head with a hole in the clip? Was it for looks - or to hang on a nail? One of those things we may never know for sure.

The swivel heads came out in the 40's, and were still produced in the 50's. View Here »

The box tells me this is from the 50's. Maybe even the flashlight, if not the 50's, the flashlight would have been in stock from the 40's. Either way, the 50's version.

usalite If you're a fan of the USAlite swivel heads, you might want to read an interesting article about the on going debate as being a GM accessory in the Collectors Corner.

If anyone has a GM catalog, with the USALite swivel-head in it, please send me an email with the photo for the proof. I would really like to see it. So far, we have no proof.

What's different with this USALite swivel-head flashlight? Notice the end cap - it's smooth, the others have rib lines on them. Also has swivel-head printed on the end cap as seen in the photo above. So it's the right end cap for the flashlight.

This Just In - Another swivel-head version! This one has a magnet on the side, and has usalite SW-22 printed on the side. The head is a solid red as you can see, not the red swirl. All looks to be original. The inside is very clean, and works well. In my opinion, this came from the factory this way.

I've never really cared for flashlights with a magnet. Now that I thought about it awhile - I think I'll keep this one!

NOTE - Click or tap on the photo of the flashlight you want to see, then you can read the information. Click on another photo, and that one will come up.