Lanterns factory embossed with ownership markings.
Embury was particularly interested in selling to contractors, utilities, and government agencies involved with highway traffic safety and control and to that end offered "stock markings" on many of their lanterns such as STOLEN FROM STATE HIGHWAY DEPT or DEPT OF PUBLIC WORKS. It's strange that this practice didn't seem to carry over to the production of the Model 40 but on the other hand the Model 40 was produced as a traffic signal lantern and not adapted to general illuminating tasks and was perhaps deemed non-purloinable. Then again, when embossing was employed it may have been a matter of pride or situations where more than one company used the same type of lantern in the same area.
However, both Embury and Dietz made Model 40s with custom ownership markings much like railroad lanterns. And Handlan did so as well. The embossed markings are on the tank/font (not on the globe, nor on the crown or dome - not enough room). Early Handlan 57s may have the marking embossed on a plate affixed to the font - this was common for highway torches but unusual for lanterns. It was originally thought that because of the different marking methods marked Handlan 57s would be more prevalent than model 40s, however that's not the case. On the other hand if Handlan model 2000s are also considered then the theory holds true. The embossing usually followed the "round" of the tank usually in one but sometimes in two lines. When two lines are known an attempt has been made to reflect that.
How many did you have to buy in order to get your name stamped on them? An early Dietz catalog says 12 cases, or 144 lanterns. Such was probably not the case with Handlan.
Some owners simply repainted their lanterns, stenciled their name on them, or applied their own non-factory tags.
Please send your sightings/observations to the page administrator so that they can be included here ONLY if found on 40s or 57s. (There are hundreds of similar markings on other models and could constitute a project by itself, which is now in progress thanks to Darrell Collins.)
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