The Aladdin Simplicity series consists of six different lamp styles. These lamps are made from relatively heavy glass, making them less susceptible to chipping than many other Aladdin models. However, several styles feature painted finishes that require special care.
Although the glass itself is durable, the painted finish can be scratched, chipped, or worn thin through years of handling. It may also become dulled or stained by spilled kerosene (coal oil). Over time, dirt can become embedded in the paint, and lamps that have spent years in barns or other harsh environments may have accumulated so much contamination that the finish cannot be fully restored, regardless of cleaning methods.
Care must be taken when cleaning these lamps. The paint is fairly durable, but it is still paint and using abrasive cleansers can damage it. It's better to soak the lamp than it is to try scrubbing it with brushes and hard cleaners. Soak it in something such as Oxiclean, or something similar. If you are going to use a brush, make sure it doesn't have stiff bristles and be gentle in its use.
Some of the Simplicity lamps are made of Alacite glass, which was a special type of glass patented by the Aladdin Mantle Lamp Company and exclusive to them. It was known for its "ivory" appearance which was rather popular in its era. Alacite glass however does have one major fault. It is a very brittle glass and easily chipped. Luckily, the Simplicity Alacite lamps are quite thick so they do resist chipping experienced by some other Alacite items.
The solid color lamps are made of clear glass that has been painted and fired to fuse the paint. The paint on these lamps can scratch and chip, but it is not extremely easy to do so.
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Aladdin Decalcomania Simplicity lamp. The lamp itself is Alacite glass to which the decal and gold highlights have been added.
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Aladdin gold lustre Simplicity lamp. The lamp itself is Alacite glass that has been painted.
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Aladdin rose Simplicity lamp. This lamp is clear glass that has been painted and fired to fuse the rose paint.
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Aladdin green Simplicity lamp. This is a clear glass lamp that has been painted green, then fired to fuse the paint to the glass.
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Aladdin white Simplicity lamp. This is also a clear glass lamp that has been painted white then fired to fuse the paint to the glass.
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Aladdin Alacite Simplicity lamp. This lamp may be where the series derived its Simplicity name, because it is "simply" an Alacite lamp.
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This is the Super Aladdin burner made in Britain. While the Simplicity lamps would normally use the Aladdin model-B burner, this is the way the white Simplicity lamp was found. The burner is like new and since it adds interest to the lamp I decided to leave it as found. It is however not the only Super Aladdin burner I have ever seen on a Simplicity lamp. One of the other interesting things I discovered as I photographed these lamps is that out of the six lamps, four have Aladdin Nashville model-B burners, one has the normal Chicago model-B, and this one has the British made Super Aladdin burner. A very diverse group of lamps.
