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History and Function

History of the Fragrance Lamp

Though Fragrance Lamps are one of the hottest and newest trend in home fragrance, they are by no means a new product line. Fragrance Lamps, also know as effusion lamps, perfume lamps, of scented oil lamps have a deep and rich history that dates back to the mid 1800s. Most of the lifetime of the Fragrance Lamp has been spent in Europe where they were initially developed for a more functional purpose of air purification.

In the early 1800s, Justus Von Liebig and Charles Frederick Gerhardt initially developed the catalytic burner system that is the key component of the catalytic fragrance lamp. Liebig, a German Scientist made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry and was considered to be one of the greatest chemistry teachers of all time. Gerhardt was an equally famous chemist from France who was actually the original inventor of aspirin. Together, these two developed the catalytic burner system primarily as a tool to be used in hospitals and mortuaries. The catalytic burner system was successfully used to purify bacteria and other germs from the air and to kill bad odors in these settings.

Maurice Berger, a pharmacist and inventor improved upon and patented the Catalytic Fragrance Lamp in Paris in June of 1898, hence the name Lampe Berger, the name of the original fragrance lamp. Berger primarily focused his fragrance lamp business on the commercial industry initially, but soon saw the promise in making his product a household appliance available for every home. His lamps were sold in the finest department stores in Paris offering a home free of germs and odor.

Just in recent years, the Fragrance Lamp has begun to recognize much greater popularity in the United States and a number of companies have sprung up who are offering a myriad of beautiful fragrance lamps with the same air purifying catalytic process of the original Lampe Berger. In most cases, these lamps are offered at a much more affordable cost (generally $35-$60). The Lamp Stand began business in 2006 with the goal of offering lamps in the common “gift giving” price range of $20-$30. While we offer other brands of effusion lamps at higher prices, our key focus for The Lamp Stand brand lamps is to stay within this more practical price range. An additional goal was to keep fragrance lamp operation affordable by offering some of the best prices on fragrance lamp oils and replacement stone wicks.