MTFCA Forum

I am in process of restoring a 22 touring and 23 touring. I have started the process of restoring individual assemblies and parts. I took several parts to my favorite metal cleaner here in Cincinnati. He has chemical cleaner and can also powder coat.

The first parts that came back from being cleaned are the lamps. I noticed some things about the lamps that I did not notice with the rust and paint on them.

I found the drain hole in the bottom of the lamp bucket that I never knew about!! Since it was always filled with paint or rust. Go figure.

I noticed one of the lamps had a manufacturer stamp in addition to the compulsory FORD stamp. Stamped on the backside of the lamp around the socket base was "T.J.C. Lamp Co. Cinti, O. After some surfing I discovered that T.J.C was Thomas J. Corcoran. Looks like TJC was a suppler to many auto companies including Ford. I am very curious of the company since I lived in Cincinnati my whole life and never heard of them.

Does anyone have information of the TJC Lamp Co.? I have only done some simple searches yet have found little on the actual company.

Corcoran made lamps for Model T's from the beginning. Look them up on ebay and you will see a bunch of them. There a lot of brass lamps made for other automobile companies there too.

The Corcoran family of Cincinnati, Ohio, were major suppliers to the automobile trade.

Thomas Corcoran and his four brothers owned the Victor Lamp Company, Corcoran Lamp Company and
the Victor Auto Parts. Peerless was another of their companies.

Victor Lamp and Corcoran Lamp supplied Black & Brass lamps beginning with the 1913 Model T Fords.
In 1916 they combined the companies at the 712 Reading Road location, Cincinnati, Ohio.

They eventually bought John Brown in Columbus, Ohio, and all were bought out by Electric Autolite in 1934.

Ken,

Thanks very much. That's what I was looking for. That address is in what we call "Over the Rhine" in downtown where all the German immigrants settled. I get down there often so I will see if there are any building left. If so I will take some pictures.

Ted

I found this on the Antique Automobile International website. Thomas J. Corcoran's great grandson, Jeff Corcoran, posted this;

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The Corcoran Lamp Company was started by Thomas H. Corcoran after the civil war in Cincinnati, OH.
They made carriage lamps. At one point they were considered the largest lamp manufacturer in the US.

Thomas H. had 5 sons and 3 daughters. The oldest was my great grandfather, Thomas J.
Other siblings were John L, Edward B, George, William J, Alice, Jenny, and Mary

Thomas J. took over the Carriage lamp business in the late 1800's and in 1905 he discontinued marketing to the carriage lamp industry and focused on manufacturing auto lamps.

William Corcoran (brother of Thomas J) started Corcoran Manufacturing Co. They produced aftermarket products for Ford, Chev and others. One of their brands was "Peerless".

Edward started the Victor Lamp Co. and was a competitor of Corcoran Lamp until Thomas J bought out his brother around 1918. The company became Corcoran-Victor Lamp Co.

Corcoran Lamp Co had 2 plants. One plant in Cincinnati and one in Detroit. After the Detroit plant closed, (early teens I believe), William Durant, a friend of Thomas J, assembled the first Chevrolet in the Corcoran plant

In the '20s, the company reverted to "Corcoran Lamp Co, dropping Victor from the name. Corcoran then bought out Jno. Brown Lamps in Columbus Oh. Not sure of the date but the company became Corcoran-Brown and continued under that name until the early 1940's when the company was sold to "Electric Auto Lite". During the 40's, Corcoran-Brown produced a large variety of lamps for the military. Thomas J died in 1940.
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I also found some reference on an Antique Radio Website where TJC Lamp Company made bulbs for radios. No more data than that reference.

Ted

In 1909, Victor Lamp Company was located at 1249 Plum, Cincinnati, Ohio.
That is 1249 West Central Parkway today and the building is gone.
Add from 1910....

Ken,

Thanks so much. If you have those ads in your possession and are every interested in selling them, I would be interested in owning them.

Ted