Czech Republic Meva 864 Kerosene Lantern

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Browsing eBay about a month ago, I spotted 2 identical lanterns for a BIN of $30 with free shipping. Click!

These are Meva 864 Czech Republic kerosene cold blast lanterns. They were complete with good globes and little dirt or rust. Tank is stamped with "Made in the Czech Republic" and "WARNING - use only paraffin" along with Meva and 864.

These are heavy steel lanterns built a cheap as they could (minimum amount of steel used) with large fuel tanks for the 1/2" wick. What I mean by that is they are tough little lanterns made with the lease amount of steel or frills needed. The globe lift is open and the height of the lift is so small I haven't been able to figure out how to light the lantern without tipping the globe back.

It's steel covered with a plastic coating, not a paint, that is very tough and thick. Only the top cap is not covered. The burner is a thin steel allow with very sharp wings, actually, all the burner edges are sharp, can draw blood quickly.

The 1/2" wick puts out about 2 to 4 candle power and with the size of the fuel font, should burn for a couple of days between total fills. After being lit for over an hour, I can still touch the top cap, at low flame, so not intended to light up a large area.

Has "19.6" stamped into the bottom of the tank which I'm not sure what that means or stands for.

AT $15.00 each and needing very little cleaning, that was a good deal. A cute pair of lanterns.

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It's steel covered with a plastic coating, not a paint, that is very tough and thick. Only the top cap is not covered. The burner is a thin steel allow with very sharp wings, actually, all the burner edges are sharp, can draw blood quickly.

Despite being built to exacting soviet standards, the plastic-ish coating is an interesting feature. In theory that would make them far more resistant to the elements than paint alone. Would it be a safe guess to figure these were made more recently? Post 1980s?

The 19.6 could be burner or globe size. I can imagine some lantern collector in eastern Europe scratching his (or her) head trying to figure out the odd dietz system .... "No.2 Blizzard? Does this mean it survived two storms?"