In Bradford, Pennsylvania, he created the first Zippo lighter. Because he loved the sound of the term "ZIPPER," he named it the ZIPPO. The original Zippo company was founded by George Blaisdell and his wife Elizabeth. They were both graduates of the University of Michigan and had met while studying there. After graduating, they married and moved to Bradford, where they set up shop making lighters. Blaisdell invented a new type of fuel cell that used zinc and steel plates with holes drilled in them. These were placed inside a glass tube filled with oil. When the two plates were heated from outside the tube, they would ignite, burning very cleanly due to the absence of oxygen. This method of lighting a fire is now used by most disposable lighters. At the time, other brands of lighters were being sold across the country, some made in Bradford itself, others imported from Europe. So George Blaisdell decided to name his brand of lighter after the word everyone knew meant "lightning" - thus creating the ZIPPO label for all his products. Within a few years, the Zippo company grew so large it needed its own warehouse and office building.