Handcrafted Nautical Decor - Solid Brass Red Ship Lamp Key Chain 4"

The brilliant red lamp recreated on these brass key rings will help guide your way, whether to safe passage or to the comfort of home. These port-side lights, along with the green of the starboard side, were fundamental in creating safe passage on the open seas, and can be elegantly combined onto one brass split key ring. Port, referring to the practice of mooring ships at ports on a ship’s left side, to avoid damaging the steering oars on the right, came to be denoted by the red lamp shown on this brass key ring in the mid-1800s. During the time of the second Industrial Revolution ship building began to expand at an incredibly fast rate, and with this increase in demand the seas became more crowded and collisions began to occur in startling numbers. In 1836, in England, the notion to place lights, such as the ones on these brass key rings, on ships sailing during the night was recommended. These basic lights, truly as simple as the lamps on these brass key rings, improved ocean safety dramatically after their international adoption in 1897, and are the perfect beacon to place on your keys.