The primus paraffin pressure stove first appeared in 1892, brainchild of Swedish inventor Frans Wilhelm Lindquist. This was a time before the world had electricity and most of the early Primus stoves were destined for the domestic market with the great outdoor movement a decade or two away. So our monster Primus No2 was not destined for the rucksacks of lusty mountaineers, more for the kitchens of lusty housewives, though they were popular with the Boy Scout/Girl Guide fraternity. Also for use in mountain base camps which is where this one began life. Dick Gowers, its previous owner, was one of the many Glasgow shipyard workers who escaped to the great outdoors at weekends and ‘drummed up’ on whatever source of heat they could find – often an open fire and maybe a Primus such as this that could be ‘ borrowed’ from the kitchen or bought for a few pence at the ‘Barras’ If only it could tell its own story! Thanks to Dick’s grandson, Stephen Gibson, for passing on this nice piece of Swedish and Scottish history.