My Collection: Phosco P125

This P125 is one of three that came from eBay. Nowadays they are incredibly rare! The P125 was for 55W SOX lamps. They feature an Oddie Key mechanism to keep the bowl locked, something not seen on any other manufacturer's sodium lanterns from the time. The bowl on this example is surprisingly complete, given it is made from acrylic, which around 60 years after the lantern's manufacture-date has become extremely weak.

This bowl was the least-cloudy of the three, and also the most complete.

The front is cracked from the bottom of the bowl to the top, and a small chunk is missing. One of the other Phoscos is present in the background.

The canopy is plain, with a small hole drilled for what was presumably a minicell.

An outline is visible around the side-entry spigot, suggesting that they may have been two separate bits of aluminium to begin with, with the possibility of the canopy becoming a top-entry lantern.

The outline of where the top-entry spigot may have gone is just-barely apparent.

The unique oddie key to open the bowl:

The bowl is held inside the bowl-ring with four screws, removing the risk of it falling out when opened. A bit of a double-edged sword; this does now mean the bowl is permanently stuck in the ring, with all four screws being seized.

One of the refractors has fallen off, but this should be a simple fix. Thankfully it is intact.

The mains connection is located at the front of the lantern, next to the lamp-holder. Notice the small stretch of blue wire, potential proof that minicells were added at a later-date. Each Phosco is also drilled in a completely different place.

The original ceramic block is still in place.

As I had a minicell spare, I decided to fit one: