Anything to do with smoking seems to be bad news in the 21st century-for good reason. However, if there's one thing I'd miss about this habit (if I were a smoker), it would be flipping open a Zippo lighter 40 times a day.
No other device serving such a simple purpose possesses such tactility. And no other device has burrowed its way so deeply into the subconscious of so many nations. The Zippo lighter is a genuine American legend and a true icon.
Like so many great designs, the Zippo's beginnings were pretty straightforward. In the early 1930s, George G. Blaisdell was at the Bradford Country Club in Pennsylvania and witnessed a friend using an Austrian lighter. It was difficult to operate, requiring two hands and, according to Blaisdell, looked "utilitarian." But it also worked in the wind, thanks to its brilliantly designed chimney.
In the fall of 1932, Blaisdell set about redesigning that clumsy Austrian lighter. He wanted something simple, stylish, easy to use and definitely wind-proof. He also wanted it to be extremely well made. Blaisdell made his prototype in early 1933 from brass and chrome, fashioning a rectangular case and attaching the lid with a welded-on hinge. Flipping it open revealed a wind-proof hood surrounding the wick-just like the ungainly lighter his friend had been using. The legend was born.
The 1930s was a time of great innovation: many things taken for granted today were just coming onto the scene. Blaisdell was a keen observer of these new technological advances and had a thing for unusual words and sounds. The zipper was a new product revolutionizing the clothing industry-he thought the name 'Zipper' sounded modern, cool. So he called his new lighter Zippo-simple.
That original lighter can be seen today in the company's museum and the Zippo factory is still in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Since production commenced in 1933, 450 million Zippo lighters have been made-an astonishing feat in itself. What's more amazing is that not one owner of a Zippo has ever had to pay for a repair. Blaisdell was so confident of his product's longevity that he made an unconditional lifetime guarantee: it works, or it's fixed for free.
Sales of the $1.95 Zippo were healthy. Blaisdell was always a keen marketing man, looking for ways to heighten awareness of his brand. But global domination eluded the company until there was a second world war. That might be an odd thing to say, but just consider what a genius move this was.
Upon America's entry into WWII, Zippo ceased production for the domestic consumer market immediately; every single lighter made until the end of the war was for the United States military. Brass and chrome supplies were short, so these lighters were steel-cased and finished with a crackle-finish black matte paint. This, in turn, led to soldiers scratching names, slogans and images into their Zippos, in effect personalizing them for the first time, a trend that changed Zippo's marketing strategy for good.