Sometime Sunday morning, before the storm blew through here, I sat down to reference pocket lights on the internet. I know, I do some strange things. This was precipitated by the “pocket light” parts that I took a photo of last week in preparation for the post. Sometimes it is hard for people to imagine how much work goes into something. The little tiny hinges in the pottery bowl were the result of two to three hours of handwork, and pretty much the same amount of time for the ones in the box. Not my work, as there is no way I could even see to do something that small. The box in the photo also held more (different) hinges that go on the same piece, which is popularly called a pocket light by re-enactors, but I am really unsure of its exact name or use. It is just one of the many tin repros made here.
Because I was thinking about those pocket lights and the amount of work that went into making them, I went about preparing a post, finding some “pocket light” photos on the web, which I have used for the pocket light collage. You might notice one of the pocket lights in the photo is a miniature star wars toy…it 
was fairly small. I mention it because I came across a comic strip on the 14th using one, so it’s a good thing I hadn’t posted yet, so I could make that connection.
Also in the collage is one of the finished pocket light reproductions. It is a small tin box, which holds a menorah (Hanukkah) sized 
candle and matches. So, the name pocket light is “technically” correct, anyway. Regarding those little hinges…
I was told that for every two pieces made it takes a lap around the bench using the shear, a bar folder, the wiring machine, and the creasing stake, all work done by hand on tools over a hundred years old. A lot of work just for the hinges, let alone the rest of the box.
Here are a few of the pocket lights I found on the web, just for a little comparison. The sizes were altered so as to fit here. The one in the lower right is the reproduction about which I wrote.
paperbubbles 