It was 1932. In a rented room above the Rickerson and Pryde auto shop in Bradford, PA George Blaisdell and two other guys huddled over a hot plate, a used welding kit and a little punch press. What they were working on would revolution mankind’s fascination with fire. In the first month, they produced 82 Zippo lighters. In 2006, Zippo produced its 425 millionth lighter.
The Zippo came along at the perfect time. In less than a decade, the US would be sending thousands of troops to front lines in Europe, Africa and Asia. The cigarette companies would be supplying these troops with all the cigarettes they could smoke. However, on cold, windy nights in the Alsace a match would not do. The Zippo, though, it was special. Its perforated metal guard would protect the wick from the wind, while letting just the right amount of air in.
Soon, the Zippo was appearing in Hollywood blockbusters and every man worth his salt was walking around with a fedora and a Zippo. As the power ballad took hold of the rock music scene in the ’70s and ’80s, the Zippo became a staple of any concertgoer’s arsenal. Unlike other lighters, it would not go out as you waved your arms in the air like you just don’t care, and it didn’t burn the hell out of your thumb.
The Zippo wasn’t just a fancy, trendy lighter. If it was, it never would have survived the counterrevolutionary ’60s. It’s style and functionality was backed up by simplicity of design and durability. It has one moving part — the striker. It has one user replaceable part — the flint. You put the Zippo fluid in and you were good to go. On top of that, Zippo guarantees their lighters to work or they will fix them free. They are built with a pride of craftsmanship that is almost as retro as the classic Zippo designs.
Today, as smoking wanes in popularity, Zippo has seen a drop in sales. To counter that, they are taking a page from Victorinox and will be selling Zippo-branded clothing and accessories. The best one? A Zippo app for the iPhone and Droid phones. Now, just because you don’t smoke doesn’t mean you have to go flameless during your next Poison concert.
[Image Credit: Stanley London]
Obligatory Hooniverse cross post tie in
<img src="http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/32/6f/33/zippo-car.jpg"width=500>
One of the best promotional vehicles ever.
WOO HOO! I actually just found my meager collection of four the other day, having thought them lost in a move. I used to always carry one with me cause I liked doing tricks with it and having something to create noise with, A.D.D. FTW? I know somewhere I still have a Zippo that opens to be a flashlight inside, but it wasn't with the other four… no biggie. Most importantly I have the one my non-smoking family gave my non-smoking self for my 21st thats engraved with my name. My fave though I got for free at a club one night when Malboro was promoting the then new No. 27 flavor (admittedly good cigs); it was bronze when new and now has a nice tarnish and wear on it making it seem like it could be from the 50s…
Thanks for the background!!!
pedant mode: technically the wick is replaceable too, hrrrmmm?
Yeah, the wick is replaceable. I thought about that while writing this, and decided that I would use some creative license on the flint being the "only user replaceable part".
Technically, the entire inner unit is user replaceable. You can put a new inner in an old case one your one moving part takes a crap.
it's just been revoked!
All good!
/pedant OFF
The wick is indeed _user_ replaceable. I had to replace mine last year. Too many people brrowing my zippo and thinking I wasn't serious when I told them to just close the lid and not blow it out.
I bought mine new in 1983 and have carried it ever since, despite never having smoked. Making fire is frequently a handy thing to do.
Two in the tool box, neither works right now and i just haven't sent them back. One has a inscription of my name on it. Wedding gift from the Groom to the Groomsman, all of us didn't smoke.
My cousin won a lighter at a carnival when I was a teenager. My uncle told him not to put fuel in it until after they flew home, because he didn't want unnecessary combustibles in the cockpit of his private plane.
We fueled it up anyway, got caught, and had to keep playing with it to burn off all the fuel before takeoff.
The 21st Century one is not bad either:
<img src="http://www.thelivingmoon.com/47john_lear/04images/Prometheus/1131388878_64.jpg" width="500">
Images from http://www.thelivingmoon.com/47john_lear/02files/…
One of the few reasons I miss smoking is being able to make proper use of the 3 Zippos I have kicking around. Other than on an actual camping trip, they get used so infrequently that they are always dry when I actually get to wanting to use one. Obviously this never happened at a pack a day. Instead I generally end up using an Eddylite (my other favourite).
I once sent one of the lighters to Zippo because the hinge had broken off the bottom piece. They grafted a new hinge on with some kind of magical JB Weld, replaced the innards while they were at it, and shipped it back all on their dime. It takes quite a while to get the new "hinge snapper arm thingy" to get to that nice smooth stage. Still, if only more businesses were like that.
Strange that in all the years I smoked (I quit around six years ago), I never had a Zippo and rarely had a cheap disposable lighter. I always used matches to light up.
I'll chime in and say that I'm another non-smoker who loves his Zippo. I got a wicked cool one with a NRA logo on it. I'm so cool.
Anyone else like the little tricks you can do? Drag your fingers crossways over the top to open it. I have know idea how it works but it does. I'm nowhere near as good as this guy.
[youtube ZOHwjDzUDnE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOHwjDzUDnE youtube]
I've lost all of my Zippos, except for one. The one with my name engraved on it as a groomsmen gift. Somebody stole that one.
Personally I don't like the flavor from lighting with a Zippo. I'll keep my cheap Bic disposable.
This write-up sent me to my jewelry box, where I have my maternal grandfather's engraved art-deco styled cigarette lighter. I always assumed it was a Zippo (it is the same style, with a flip-top and a wind guard around the wick), but now I see it is in fact a Bowers No. 10, manufactured in Kalamazoo, MI. It is chrome-plated brass, and engraved "Louis G. Jekel". I am the firstborn grandchild, and the only one he ever knew; he passed away when I was just one year old, before my sister or any of my cousins were born. So of course it has quite a lot of sentimental value to me.
I'd never heard of Bowers lighters (not surprising I guess) and googled it. You should read the history of Bowers Tool and Die if you haven't already. It's a good story. They started making lighters during the Great Depression because Ernest Bowers hacked butts and had a good lighter that he liked but thought he could make better. He noticed everyone else was hackin' butts too, and they'd all need to light 'em, even during the Depression (or maybe especially during the Depression?). There are fortunes during war time, fighting cheap imported knockoffs, the whole deal. And Ernest's son Frederick Bowers must have had a real gift for negotiation. I've had dealings with Nissan on various projects, and the Japanese are a tough crowd who don't give concessions easily. Yet somehow he got them to agree to not flood the American market with copies. Interesting story. http://www.bowers-mfg.com/heritage.html
I did read about Bowers Manufacturing just today. It is a very interesting history indeed.
I've had Zippos ever since I was in the Army in the early eighties. Cheap lighters just don't feel right, and I like the neato tricks you can do with a Zippo. My current one, is a brass "armored" one, with the heavy case. I like it's heft, and after carrying and using it for about eight years, it has a nice patina. I've never had to send one back to Bradford, PA, but I can get a free mailer from the local smoke shop where I bought mine, in case I ever need to. Yeah, Zippos are a fine product.
Out of all the stuff I've carried around these years, I never went past the cheapo plastic Bic lighters. If you really needed fire it was usually a big one, and the striker just lived there on one of the regulator's of the oxy-acetylene torch.
I'm heading your way for the Fourth, and if Dad doesn't have his old Zippo anymore (he quit smoking when I was just a kid, but he likes to hang onto stuff), I'd like to come visit your local smoke shop and get one.
really good article…
I have spent a bit of time going through your posts, more than I should have but I must say, http://move2fun.com/blog.php?user=Clarisa&blogentry_id=61564, many Thanks….
very helpful…
I preferred to thank you for this good article. http://www.its-one.com/community/blogs/entry/Summer-is-almost-on-us-its-time-to-think-about I by all odds liked every little bit of it…
very helpful…
I preferred to thank you for this good article. http://douchebagthis.com/blogs/entry/Cameras-If-if-you-wish-to-listen-to-people-telephone-communication-or-interfere-2011-08-05 I by all odds liked every little bit of it…
very helpful…
I preferred to thank you for this good article. http://www.myspacepaintings.com/forum/posts/id_148/title_as-learn-to-girl-likes-as-a-bride-out-of-handsome/ I by all odds liked every little bit of it…
Great…
love your blog, http://finn11.sulekha.com/ ,Thanks again….
Great One…
I must say, its worth it! My link, http://www.dreamblog.net/free/blanche/index.php,thanks haha…
Great One…
I must say, its worth it! My link, http://cheryl.almasblog.com/,thanks haha…
quality post…
I have spent a bit of time going through your posts! http://smithdress.blinkweb.com/,i had a good read….
very helpful…
I preferred to thank you for this good article. http://lychtb.mylivepage.com/blog/1958/12064 I by all odds liked every little bit of it…