A Swede, Frans Wilhelm Lindqvist, is credited with producing the first pressurised paraffin stove back in 1892 and, unsurprisingly perhaps, called it Primus meaning foremost or first in Latin. There followed a vast array of models in the following decades, each with a different number and a multitude of variations. The date stamp on the 221 we have here indicates that it was made in 1926 and it’s pretty much in mint condition, though as usual there is a wee anomaly. These stoves were one of the first to be collapsible and stored/carried in a tin which, unfortunately, we don’t have. To collapse it the legs can be removed and the burner unscrewed. A replacement is then required to fill the hole where the burner was to stop fuel leaking out. This is normally stored on top of the filler screw. Unfortunately, we don’t have a filler screw which doesn’t allow that to happen – see picture above. We can only assume that there would have been a spare screw in the tin, or maybe the original has been replaced somewhere along the way.
