I've been seeing a lot of those old Coleman lanterns showing up at antique stores.
Oh I just remembered a time when my brother and I were camping down by a creek that was maybe a 100 yards from the house. Dad worked an afternoon shift at his job, and he would get home about midnight or so. Well we had the old Coleman lantern wide open, and it really lit up the the campsite and creek bottom. It wasn't maybe a few seconds after we heard Dads truck get to the house and he yelled down to us "hey what kind of gas did you put in that thing?" We replied sort of puzzled why he asked "just the gas from the lawn mower jug". I remembered hearing something like... What the#! $#are you two thinking! Put that thing out before you blow yourselves to kingdom come! Dad was never short on expletives, but we knew he loved us. I didn't realize you weren't supposed to use regular gasoline.
Another time was when Dad and I were getting ready to leave the campsite and head out in the boat across the lake and go fishing, and Mom asked if we could find the camp after dark? She had a very good point because no lights from camp could be seen through the thick trees. This took some thinking because we didn't have a GPS thingy. I had a solution. I had a double mantel lantern that could only be run on high, or it would deafen a person by the intense whistling noise it produced if turned down. I filled it with fuel and set it near the waters edge, and cranked it up wide open. Dad found this idea to be humorous. Sure enough when we were headed back after dark, I could see that lamp glowing like a beacon from a good mile away.
Ya know I haven't bought a lantern in years. I like the looks of that Primus one that Northern Dancer spoke of. I've got one of the burners that use that type of fuel, and the fuel cans are smaller and pack better then the Coleman propane cans. Maybe it's time I upgrade? Thanks Dancer.