Historic Hood River
“For best results, use Pearl Oil.”
8-26-2024
Notes
“Madeleine’s Monday” features this artifact from the collection of the History Museum of Hood River County: The Perfection smokeless oil heater no. 520. The Perfection 500s were a series of steel kerosene heaters produced circa 1915-1925.
Early advertisements depict these heaters sitting in children’s rooms with pets curled up beside, providing “warm rays for cold days.” Although far from modern safety standards, I’m sure these would’ve been quite convenient during the chilly winter days of early 20th century Hood River.
You can see some of the original advertisements and learn all about these heaters here.
L. E.
We had one of those in our basement, which wasn’t much of a basement, but it is where my mom kept her jars of canned goods.
When the temperature got below freezing and the east wind was howling, my dad would go down and light this heater to keep things from freezing.