Many older Phosco lanterns such as the P152/3, P156/7, P177 have their bowls fastened with what is called an "Oddie Key" rather than a more conventional catch. A common fault is that the rubber washer that retains the Oddie perishes with age. When it comes to relamp time, if the operative is unaware of this common fault, when the Oddie is rotated 90 degrees to unlock it, it drops out and is lost. The bowl then ends up being taped up.
A chance find by a colleague at work, unearthed some back issues of Flight International, the aerospace weekly news magazine, dating back to 1952. Thumbing through the 4th April 1952 issue, I spotted a small advert for Oddie Fasteners. I never realised they originated in the aerospace industry as a quick release fastener for swift removal of panels.
More amazing was that the advert was for a company just 25 miles away from me in Southampton. Pre WW2 they seemed to have been based at the nearby Eastleigh/Southampton airport, moving to the address in the advert post WW2. They also seem to have designed a
WW2 era gyro plane. The company no longer appears to exist.
I had considered making up my own new Oddie keys from brass rod and strip to replace lost ones on my lanterns. However a quick search on the internet shows that these are still being made of a suitable size to fit Phosco lanterns.