Popular with military history buffs, Zippo lighters have done their bit in every American war, and had a starring role in war movies since 1933.

Zippo is Born

George Blaisdell watched across the table over dinner at a country club as a friend struggled with a bulky imported cigarette lighter, and figured that a man in a good looking suit needed a good looking lighter.  He bought the American distribution rights to his friends Austrian lighter, refined the workings, named it Zippo, and an American icon was born.  Known for reliability, Zippo almost didn’t make it through the depression, but in 1937, advertising featuring a curvaceous blond lighting her cigarette in a strong wind with her Zippo ran in Esquire, and demand for the blonde’s lighter of choice took off.

Zippo Goes to War (and the Movies)

It was World War II that catapulted the Zippo brand to fame.  American GI’s found that Zippo lighters worked under almost any weather condition including rain, wind and snow.  Blaisdell soon received contracts from the US military.  During the war, the company’s entire production went to the armed forces. Every ship in the Navy had its own souvenir Zippo for crew members to purchase, and many did.  Zippo has played a part in every American war since WWII. 

War correspondent Ernie Pyle, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and General Douglas MacArthur all wrote to Blaisdell with praise for the lighter’s reliability, with Ike noting,  “It is the only lighter I’ve got that will light at all times. . .”  The company also has dozens of letters from veterans describing how a Zippo in a pocket deflected a bullet or came in handy heating up rations.  Zippo lighters appeared in From Here to Eternity, Bridge Over the River Kwai and Sands of Iwo Jima.  James Dean flaunted his Zippo in Rebel Without a Cause.

Collectible Zippos

Zippos continue to be a popular collectible.  In addition to military issues, advertising and commemorative Zippos abound.  There are Mercury and Apollo space mission lighters as well as a moon landing version.  Special advertising editions have been produced for Ford, Chevy, Jeep, Lucky Strike and Camel Cigarette.

Manufacturers of tractors, trucks and gasoline have commissioned Zippo to produce lighters with their company logos, including Texaco, Grumann, and John Deere.  These examples, and those of companies that no longer exist are highly sought, and sell for $50-$300.  These lighters are engraved, embossed, etched, painted, or silk-screened.

Zippo’s Flame Flickers

Zippos continue to be manufactured in the original plant in Bradford, Pennsylvania, but the business is trouble, in part because of the virulently anti-smoking attitude of today’s society.  Equally problematic is the business of piracy.  Forbes Magazine recently reported that unauthorized factories in China are cranking out as many as 50,000 counterfeit Zippos per day of a quality is so high that the only way they can be detected is by pulling the lighter apart, and looking at the works under a magnifying glass.  Zippo management is fighting a continuing battle, but with companies outside American jurisdiction, the fight is going badly.  It’s unknown whether counterfeiters are reproducing vintage Zippos, but collectors would be well advised to purchase with care.