By the 1920s, lighters had become functional as well as artistic with the advent of the semiautomatic lighter, where the user flips open the lid and a flint wheel simultaneously spins and ignites the wick. The automatic lighter was created by Louis Aronson (founder of Ronson lighters) in 1926. It requires only the push of a button to create the flame, which stays lit as long as the button is held down. Up through WWII, most lighters ran on Naptha, a petroleum mixture. After WWII, Naptha was replaced by compressed butane.

Early electric lighters were made of ceramic. They plugged into a house element and the bottom would get hot.

To attract women in the 1930s, some companies (especially Ronson) created lighters that combined various elements, such as cigarette cases and compacts, and added rhinestones or enameled designs.

Lighters come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, from slick, elegant designs to novelty items, such as lighters that look like lipstick cases or little TV sets. Some lighters incorporate materials from notable manufacturers, such as glass from Lalique and china from Lenox. In the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, Ronson produced the Ronson Master Pack, which combined a lighter, cigarette case, and watch.

Other key brands for lighter collectors include Zippo, Dunhill, Penguin, Colibri, ST Dupont, Scripto, and Evans.

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