December 3, 2008
Lighters are among the most popular collectibles today, both for their aesthetic value and brand associations. First invented in 1823 and then improved in the 1880s, pocket lighters became as common as keys or wallets by the 1930s. Basic types of lighters include manual (flint and wheel spark ignites a wick or creates a flame above a gas valve), semi-automatic (wheel also opens the fuel source cover), and automatic (requires only a button push).
By the 1920’s, lighters had become functional as well as artistic, with 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 WW2, most lighters ran on Naptha, a petroleum mixture. After WW2 Naptha was replaced by compressed butane.
Key brands for lighter collectors include Zippo, Ronson, Dunhill, Penguin, Colibri, ST Dupont, Scripto, and Evans.
Cigarette lighter collecting is a hobby that never gets boring. Just by browsing eBay auctions for ten minute… [more]
This ambitious site showcases the 20,000-item Rankei Library matchbook collection, owned by the Japan Match Manufac… [more]
Don Wearmouth and his wife showcase the 230 beautiful silk designs that were distributed free with Kensitas cigaret… [more]
This classy looking British site features hundreds of high resolution photos of antique porcelain pre-war (enamel) … [more]
Jane McDevitt's huge Flickr photoset of matchbox labels, primarily Eastern European, from the 1950s and 60s. These … [more]
This gallery of cigarette magazine advertising from the 1940s and 50s contains no surgeon general's warning, just p… [more]
James Lileks' gallery of 250 matchbooks from coffee shops, hotels, motels, bars, banks, restaurants and more. Lilek… [more]
Puff on this... over 1,000 cigar bands from the 1890s through 1920s, organized into themed galleries such as Portra… [more]
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