Zippo Lighter Advertising Collection
name: label: Author
content: Zippo Manufacturing Company
label: Collector
content: Jones, William (Vice President, Zippo Lighter)
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Domestic Life
topic: label: Topic
content: Cigar lighters -- 1930-1980
label: Topic
content: Smoking -- 1930-1980
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated by William Jones, Vice President of Zippo, March 1983.
creator: label: Author
content: Zippo Manufacturing Company
label: Collector
content: Jones, William (Vice President, Zippo Lighter)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Zippo Lighter Advertising Collection
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: The Zippo Company has made over 300 million cigarette lighters since it was founded in 1932. The founder, George Blaisdell, believed that the policy of planned obsolescence repulsive, so he guaranteed his product "forever". Any Zippo lighter sent back to the factory has always been repaired at no charge to the customer. According to the company's official history, the lighter's qualities, windproof and rugged, caught on big during World War II when just about every man in the service, dogface to Dwight D. Eisenhower, had one. There are numerous stories of the lighter being used to illuminate airplane instrument panels and as emergency signaling devices. There is a confirmed instance of a lighter working after being frozen in solid ice for four months, and one which survived an 1,100 foot fall. Zippo began diversifying in 1962 into such products as money clips, flashlights and pocket rules. The Case Cutlery Company has been a subsidiary of Zippo since 1993.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.75 Cubic feet (2 boxes, 3 oversize folders)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1937 - 1998
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: The first part of the collection was donated to the Division of Domestic Life in 1983 by William Jones, Vice President of the Zippo Company and transferred to the Archives Center in February, 1983. The second part, the 65th Anniversary material, was donated in 1997 to the Archives Center by Patrick Grandy, the Marketing Communications Manager of Zippo.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0094
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Pamphlets
label: Type
content: Posters
label: Type
content: Articles
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by Frank Jenkins, 2004
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Pamphlets -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Posters -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Articles
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Advertising brochures, posters, and articles on the company.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Collected in conjunction with accession no. 1983.0394, Division of Home and Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life).