Cairo craftsmen keen on keeping traditional stoves alive

In Egypt’s capital Cairo, craftsmen are keen on keeping a decades old conventional craft alive.

In a work shop, hand crafted traditional primus stoves are manufactured daily. The primus stove is the first pressurized kerosene burner developed in the 1800s.

Now the old age craft is dying and this workshop is among a small number that are keen to maintain the manufacturing of the stoves.

“We started to branch out into manufacturing traditional miniature coffee stoves, Kanaka coffee pots, and special parts used in shishas because the manufacture of the primus stove itself has become extinct. Over the years, especially in the last ten years, people stopped using the primus stove,” said Mohamed Gamal Abdel Nasser, a stove trader.

“Today, nobody knows how to even use it, gas prices have gone up, and in most cases gas is being replaced with diesel which isn’t suitable for use in primus stoves,” he added.

With conventional cooking burners, the stoves are now mostly used in rural areas.

Nevertheless, despite the fall in demand, this craft still remains a vital source of income for this workshop.

“We also sell to Syria and Libya, as well as lots of other places. We also sell to slums where there is no infrastructure for gas to reach the area and the prices of canisters are also expensive,” said Nasser.

Reuters