Dad's Zippo

[Moses Yoder]

I had a list at Dad's auction with maximum bids of what I was willing to spend for stuff. Stuff ended up going so cheap though that I bought numerous items not on my list. I saw the lighter earlier but really did not have much interest in it; I am a tool collector. When it came up I bid $2 on it an nobody else bid. I knew nothing about it.


When I bought it my mom was sitting nearby and said those used to be the in thing among her Amish friends when they were younger. I pictured dad being cool, lighting a cigarette. He smoked for about 20 years, till the church he started going to (when he left the Amish) told him it was wrong to smoke. He was an avid anti-smoker after that. Yesterday I showed it to mom again and she exclaimed how that used to be dad's favorite lighter. I did some research and trimmed the wick, guessed that all it needed was a flint and some fuel. I had spent all of my allowance last weekend so I had to wait until yesterday, payday, to buy the 70 cent flints and $2.44 lighter fluid. Genuine Zippo parts at Meijer. Patiently waited a week.


Last night I installed the flint and filled it with fuel and it lights like new. It was made between 1950 and 1957 ( http://www.zippo.com/about/article.aspx?id=1582) which would have been right for dad to buy it new somewhere in Kidron OH probably.


In case you can't tell, I am quite pleased with the little Zippo. I am buying a holster for it and will wear it occasionally. Here is dad's Zippo.

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[Rich Engelhardt]

Always remember w/a Zippo - you never carry it in your pants pocket, always in a vest, coat or shirt pocket.

They will leak fluid when you fill them for a day or so & the fluid will cause a chemical burn on your thighs or butt - depending on where you carry it.
I have a few old Zippo lighters kicking around the house somewhere.
I carried one for years until cheap butane lighters came out.

Enjoy the one you have and the memories of your dad using it.
Your mom is right, a Zippo was the "Gold standard" of lighters.

Scripto put a dent in Zippo sales in the 1960's with their super cool Vu Lighter, but, Zippo still pretty much owned the market.
They were usually double or more what a knock off ran, but, a Zippo would never break (and even if they did, Zippo fixed them free) and the knock offs broke real easy.

LOL! The irony is I carried a knock off the last couple of months I smoked because that's all I could find in the house!

[Judson Green]

Nice lighter Moses

One of the tricks so ya don't over fill em is to fill the casing up less than half way (maybe a third), then slowly, very slowly push in the lighter part, the part with the packing. Might wanna kinda swirl or gently shake the lighter around as your doing this so the fluid will slash up there, into the packing, and not squeeze out.

Also, some folks would carry another flint under the fitted packing, so ya never ran out. Read a survival guide a while back and the guy raved about the Zippo being essential carry for a survivalist.

[Rick Potter]

Now you can go to rock concerts, dude. :cool:

[Jerome Stanek]

I wonder if it was Lehman's hardware where he bought it. I always liked going there years ago but now they are to much of a tourist trap.

[Mike Circo]

My dad carried one for years.
There is nothing like the distinct sound of a Zippo opening or closing. The "Zink" sound is still imprinted in my brain.
I wish I had his.

[Ole Anderson]

I remember my dad's zippo, too. He quit smoking cold turkey after the doctor told him he should quit. My mom, however, was a closet smoker until she died. I pray for the day that smoking isn't considered "cool" by anyone. Hey, I remember his Zippo hand warmer too, used deer hunting on cold Michigan mornings.

[Steve Peterson]

It is great to own an item of your dad's that carries a lot of memories. It is a cool lighter.

I am curious why you had to buy it at auction. My parents and in-laws always give us a box or two of stuff they want to get rid of while they are still alive. Some of it is junk, but also a lot of really nice old tools that they don't use anymore.

Steve

[Moses Yoder]

There is another thread where I detail how we auctioned it off, Dad's Auction I think I called it. I have a lot more than just the lighter, I even have things I haven't mentioned on here yet. We auctioned stuff off to the children that will be deducted from the inheritance when my mom dies. We "sold" 640 items, there are probably a thousand that didn't sell. They will go to yard sale or auction, I am looking at what is left over on Friday. My mom wanted to start getting rid of stuff about 5 years ago when dad was unable to do much more than sit down; he always thought he was going to get better until he finally realized very near the end that he wsa never going to get better. It would have been neat I think for him to see us getting that stuff and enjoying it but it was too late. We dug stuff out of the attic, garage, and basement that we never knew he had, the lighter being one. I have a new, in the box, never been used GPS of his now that is probably 15 years old. It had batteries in it and they were a little corroded but I bet it will still work when I power it up.

[Steve Peterson]

So then it was just an auction for family members using "virtual" money that eventually gets deducted from a future inheritance. That makes a lot more sense than competing against strangers in a real auction.

I think I would make out great if my father-in-law had one of those, since I am the only family member that has any interest in woodworking or machining. There would be nobody bidding against me for the things that I would want. :)

Steve