A few weeks ago I came across an old camp stove at an Estate Sale — the same place I bought my vintage Coleman cooler, actually. It is a rust bucket in every sense of the word. I went home and did a very small amount of research and found only photos of other Western Field stoves that look nothing like this one — the others all have camp fuel tanks like most liquid fuel stoves that Coleman make. Speaking of Coleman, I tried finding out what company or brand name Western Field is. I found only vague guesses on obscure message boards about Western Field stoves being manufactured by Montgomery Ward??? I also found no trace of date stamps or any other clue as to how old this thing is. That’s about all I know. So then, what’s inside this rusty old unknown cooker? This:
The red wind guards are a nice colorful touch. It has two burners. The amount of rust is impressive. Actually, it just makes the outside of the stove look even better, and that’s not saying much. The fuel source is interesting. Here’s a closer look:
It is propane. But smaller propane canisters than is commonly used today. Also worth noting is that the propane canisters are made by Coleman and are supposed to only be used with Coleman products. After taking all of this in, I had two options:
1) Restore the stove. See if it works. Clean it up and even see about replacing those canisters.
2) Leave it in it’s current state and admire it as a neat token that’s probably 60-70 years old.
But first, there is one more item that came with the stove, stored inside. I think it is really neat:
Some sort of archaic flint starter. It works, actually. You press it together like a pair of tongs and it does produce a spark. Okay, so here’s what I did. I took the stove outside, far away from anything flammable and I turned the valves on and lit a match …
*** POOF***
A giant flame consumed the air then immediately went out. It startled me. I tried it a second time and what do you know, the left burner lit up normally. It worked! I tried the right burner, but nothing ever happened — the right side canister was plum empty. So literally, I then let the left burner run the rest of the day. It wasn’t the strongest flame, but it was hot enough to heat food. It eventually ran dry, which was the goal. I should mention something rather bizarre here. The propane smelled creepy. I mean it really did smell bad, but in a weird way. It smelled like rust, and damp steel. It smelled like the boiler room in the basement of an old abandoned haunted school, I don’t even know what that means but you maybe get the point? I found it amazing that I was literally breathing in smells that were half of a century old. For a brief second, I was transported backwards.
Okay, final verdict: I obviously cannot feasibly use this thing. I do know of someone who has these propane canisters, but once they’re gone, they’re gone which means it’s pointless to use them at all. Secondly, I seriously doubt I want to put in the effort to clean this thing. I’ve got enough projects on my horizon to keep me busy. Sadly, this stove will just sit somewhere as a neat, old prop to be admired. I don’t regret buying it, but perhaps a little bit more research is in store so that I may fully appreciate it and at least feel knowledgeable about it.
The Lantern of Oz 