Coleman Envy

Last evening I spent part of my time getting our Coleman  2-burner Stove ready for wife and daughters first over-nighter Brownie camp-out with her troop, of which wife is the leader.

The stove looks much like this one, but perhaps just a little more used.

Well, it works fine. As one collector said, "It's hard to kill a Coleman."

But every time we light up the stove my wife always wonders why we need five other stoves, all much alike.
Or for that matter five Coleman Lanterns.

Well, the short answer (which serves no one well) is that we don't.

The longer answer is that I love them, and the era they represent and you never know when the whole neighborhood could lose power for months and we may be the only people with enough lights and stoves for everyone.

Sure Coleman still makes stoves, and lanterns, but there is something about these older models that I really love.
Most of them were built before non-stick surfaces were applied to our cooking gear. When we still used cast-iron fry pans and steel pots and pans. Our tents were made of canvas, and heavy as hell, so that when they got wet you needed the whole scout patrol to carry it to the car.

Well, before I wax any more nostalgic I want to share a photo about a very enviable collection I found on-line while searching for parts.

His wife doesn't call it a hobby either.

Made me weep.

And look, my kind even have gatherings!

And there's even a forum!