The history of the lava lamp can be quite muddled and confusing to approach. From its original invention to its manufacturing and sale, who exactly ādid it firstā is often unclear. Two lava lamp companies, Lava Lite and Mathmos, are said to be the originators of the lava lamp, and both draw their histories back to inventor Edward Craven Walkerā¦ Who himself is disputed as the true inventor of the lava lamp.
So, whatās the real story?
Well, it starts sometime in the 1940s with a Scot by the name of Donald Dunnet, a motor engineer living in South East England. Little information is available on Dunnet, and the most helpful source on him and his inventions is his great-grandson Charlie Leverett, who along with his father and aunt have tried to piece together accurate information on Dunnet and his invention.
According to an old (unfortunately dateless) newspaper article, which the family uses as a source, the original invention came about when Felicity, Dunnetās youngest daughter and Charlie Leverettās grandmother, broke the familyās egg-timer, coincidentally while there was a wartime shortage of egg-timers in the UK. Dunnet, who was described as a part-time inventor, set out to build a replacement ā imagining, instead of sand falling down to measure time, a controlled rising of oil to the surface of water. This āinverted egg-timerā would therefore be the very first lava lamp prototype.
It would not, however, be the last prototype created by Donald Dunnet. In December 1950, Dunnet applied for a patent granted in 1954 for āa display device using liquid bubbles in another liquidā ā making no reference to time measurement, it can be assumed that at this point the invention no longer had anything to do with egg-timers and was instead meant to be an aesthetically pleasing display.
The abstract further describes the invention as āa display device [which] comprises an upper layer of liquid 2 and a lower layer of liquid 3 in a transparent container 1, the two liquids being non-miscible and the upper layer being of lower specific gravity than the lower layer and means 9 for heating the lower layer so that it rises through the upper layer in the form of liquid bubbles [ā¦], the bubbles being cooled by the upper layer so that they return to the lower layer.ā
Further technical detail is added, but with this initial description, you may already have recognized the basic workings of a lava lamp: wax or oil heated by a light bulb at the bottom of the lamp bubbles up through the fluid filling the container (typically water); the bubbles cool down as they reach the top of the lamp and fall back to the bottom, creating a continuous flow of 'lava'.
While there are no other patents I could find for further iterations on this invention, Dunnet continued to improve on his design. The family was able to find one picture of various models created by Dunnet: one resembles a large glass jug, one a long-necked, bulbous bottle, and three resemble lanterns (interestingly, lantern designs would later be sold by both Lava Lite and Crestworth). The picture is dated "Easter 1960".
Dunnet was even featured on āThe BBC Inventors Clubā (date of broadcast unknown) for another of his inventions, seemingly his ācleaner for flat surfacesā patented in 1955, pictured here:
According to Dunnetās grandson, in the 1960s, the family still owned and used one of Dunnetās lamps, which he says āworked really well and was well developed, quite far removed from his original āegg timerā based designā. He further describes this lamp as using āa Grantās whiskey bottle with Red lavaā. He also declared his intention to create a replica of this prototype based on his memories of it, but it seems pictures of such a replica never materialized.
Sadly, Donald Dunnet passed away sometime between 1960 and 1964, and would never market his invention himself. According to his grandson, his widow had his workshop completely cleared after his death, and no surviving prototypes remain. Still ā thanks to newspaper articles, family testimony, the 1950s patent, and the surviving photographs of Donald Dunnet and his inventions, it seems clear that he was the true original inventor of the lava lamp, though not the one who would come to market it to the public.
Unfortunately, Dunnet seems to have been widely forgotten from lava lamp history, with many sources not mentioning him at all, and only his initial egg-timer prototype being briefly credited as inspiring Edward Craven Walker in other sources. It seems Dunnetās family passed on his story through generations and often spoke of his invention as being stolen, though his granddaughter Linda Leverett is ānot sure what really happenedā, and the family primarily expresses wishing that he was better known and recognized for his creations. You can take a look at various other patents held by Dunnet here.
So then, who is this Edward Craven Walker we keep hearing about?
Edward Craven Walker (1918-2000) was a British inventor, now known as the creator of the lava lamp. In 1963, Craven Walker found himself at the Queenās Head pub in Dorset, England. There, he spotted a āblob lightā on the bar, described as āa glass cocktail shaker full of oil and water with a light bulb beneathā. This was one iteration of Dunnetās invention ā already no longer an egg-timer as is often claimed, but instead a decorative item.
Craven Walker, learning that Dunnet had died, decided to take on the further development of the lamp himself. He hired British inventor David George Smith to further develop the device. In 1964, Smith applied for a patent assigned to Craven Walkerās company āCrestworth Limitedā and granted in 1968, for āa display device comprising a container having two substances therein, with one of the substances being of a heavier specific gravity and immiscible with the other substance [ā¦] and when heat is applied to the container, the first substance will become flowable and move about in the other substanceā.
Craven Walker named this lamp the āAstro Lampā, and this model was sold by Crestworth starting in 1963, making it the first commercial lava lamp.
The Crestworth Astro and its variations (such as the Astro Mini) have defined the classic look of lava lamps ever since. They were greatly successful throughout the 1960s and 1970s and are now icons of the era. Crestworth would be renamed Mathmos in 1992, and Mathmos is still one of the two best-known lava lamp companies in the world.
So, whatās with Lava Lite and its claim of being āthe original lava lamp companyā?
In the end, itās simply a case of international manufacturing rights. In 1965, Craven Walker sold the US manufacturing rights of his Astro Lamp to two American entrepreneurs, Adolph Wertheimer and Hy Spector, who saw the lamp at a novelty convention in Hamburg, West Germany. Wertheimer and Spector founded the Lava Manufacturing Corporation in Chicago, Illinois, and the Astro Lamp was renamed the Lava Lite and brought to the US market. In the 1970s, the rights to the Lava Lite were sold to Haggerty Enterprises, and it would be distributed by a subsidiary called Lava World International. Lava World International was later renamed Lava Lite LLC. Finally, the Lava Lamp brand was acquired by toy manufacturer Schylling in 2018. This brand, often referred to as āLava Liteā, is the other big player in the lava lamp world. Because both Mathmos and Lava Lite originate from Craven Walkerās initial Astro Lamp, both brands still lay claim to āthe original lava lampā.
So thatās the story of the lava lamp, as best as Iāve been able to piece it together! An original invention by Donald Dunnet, developed by Edward Craven Walker, and sold in the US by Lava Lite and internationally by Mathmos. A simple but ingenious device, originally only meant as an egg-timer, which would become an icon of the 60s and the 70s, and remains popular to this day.
Did I get something wrong? Am I missing details? Do you have more information on lava lamp history? Feel free to reach out with an ask or submission!
Sources:
The History of the Astro Lamp - Designs by Donald Dunnet - FlowOfLava
The History of the Lava Lamp - Smithsonian Magazine
Donald Dunnet - Original Lava Lamps Inventor by Charlie Leverett on OozingGoo
