How to date a ronson lighter
Now, here are a few tips if you've decided you'd like to begin collecting lighters:
How to date a ronson lighter code#
Most Zippo lighters are stamped on the bottom with a date code which can be deciphered by going to Zippo Click, or one of the other Zippo sites listed below. Zippo lighters are especially popular with collectors because they are generally easier to date than others. Military, hunting, and racing themes are popular, as are railroad, automotive, and aviation (especially now that the federal government has banned lighters beyond airport checkpoints as of February 15, 2005). Some concentrate on particular models by particular makers, while others search for favorite designs, from Camel cigarettes to lions and tigers and bears. A few seek out the ones with cases made of special materials like Bakelite, sterling, leather, or wood. The sheer number of different lighters has forced collectors to specialize. (And that's not counting the ubiquitous, non-refillable, disposable lighters made of plastic that I have not included in this discussion.) Since 1926, hundreds of millions of lighters have been sold around the world by Ronson, Zippo, Evans, Dunhill, Dupont, and Scripto, just to name a few of the major manufacturers. They were available at most major sporting events. They could be used to commemorate historic events, or as souvenirs from destinations like Las Vegas or Washington, D.C. Lighters were perfect canvases for the logos of cigarette manufacturers, brewers, and motion picture studios. Like match makers, lighter manufacturers also found profitability in the marketing of their products as miniature billboards. A 1936 model recently sold at an online auction for $870. Backed by its now famous, "It works or we fix it free" guarantee, Zippo quickly became one of the world's largest manufacturers of lighters. One of the most notable of these was the Zippo Windproof Lighter invented by George Blaisdell in 1932.
Spurred by the growing popularity of cigarette smoking by both men and women, and by the phenomenal success of Ronson's Banjo, other companies jumped on the bandwagon, marketing unique designs or improvements. In moderately good condition, it now easily fetches $100-200 at online auction sites. That first lighter, the Banjo, retailed for $5.00. patent for its "PRESS - it's lit, RELEASE - it's out, one finger - one motion" mechanism. That year, the Ronson Art Metal Works applied for a U.S. Though cigarette lighters had been around, in one form or another, for some time, it was in 1926 that what we know as the first automatic lighter was born.