In 1854, the Canadian geologist Abraham Gesner obtained a patent for a lamp oil he called kerosene from the Greek keroselaion, meaning wax-oil. It was first manufactured by distilling coal tar and shale oil, but petroleum became the major source after 1859, when Edwin Drake drilled the first petroleum well in Pennsylvania. Compared to other lighting fuels, it was cleaner, relatively safe and affordable, and illuminated brightly.

In the ten months between March 1 and December 30, 1862, 623 patents were granted for kerosene burners and lamps. Such lamps were widely used from the 1860s, when kerosene first became plentiful, until the development of electric lighting. Sometime between 1865 and 1880, this kerosene glass lamp was likely made by the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company in Sandwich, Massachusetts. The attribution is based on the archaeological discovery of related fragments at the factory site, including pieces of a similar brilliant blue glass. This ribbed design is referred to as the Onion pattern by collectors because of the shape of the stylized font. The globe was possibly made by blowing glass into a mold, while the font and pedestal are pressed glass, the latter an American 19th-century invention.