Guaranteed for Life

Today, most products are either disposable or come with a limited warranty, unless of course an extended warranty is bought at additional cost.

But, did you know that there's a U.S. made product that comes with the promise It works or we fix it free™ ?

Like ourselves, it might have surprised you to learn that the product is a metal lighter called Zippo® made in Bradford, PA, where a museum is dedicated to it. The guarantee has come with the lighter since its invention in the early 1930s.

Zippo Manufacturing Company has been in the same PA location since 1932. Several years ago, the company manufactured its 600,000,000 lighter. Bradford is home to the Zippo/Case Museum, the only place in the world to find a complete selection of Zippo and Case knife products. (W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company is an American manufacturer of hand-crafted knives based in Bradford since 1905. The company was acquired by Zippo Manufacturing Company in 1993.) 

The U.S. flag behind us is composed entirely of 3,393 Zippo lighters

Our visit to the Zippo Museum was unexpected as we were driving to Warren, PA, to meet-up with a fellow blogger. After seeing a highway billboard, we backtracked to locate the museum, which was still open.

In over 90 years, no one has ever spent money on the mechanical repair of a Zippo pocket lighter regardless of its age or condition. Even though there are fewer folks smoking today, this lighter has become part of the American culture. It's remained a global icon for durability and reliability over decades, especially in war time.. 

Loyal owners have credited a Zippo® lighter with saving them from danger or even saving their lives in the darkest situations. Lighters have been mangled, swallowed by fish, drowned for years and then found again. The fact that a Zippo lighter works for years or it's fixed free of charge has generated letters from owners sharing their experiences.

The Zippo Back Story

George Blaisdell, Zipo inventor

The start the lighter's history dates to 1932 when George G. Blaisdell watched a friend struggle to use an Austrian-made lighter one-handed. He saw that while the lighter worked well in the wind due to its unique chimney design, it was difficult to use and required two hands and the thin metal surface was easily dented. The friend said he dismissed the difficulties as the lighter worked well in windy conditions.

Blaisdell, an inventor, worked in the Blaisdell Machinery Company, a family business, in Bradford, PA. In late 1932, he decided out to reconstruct the Austrian lighter into an easier to use lighter. After ordering samples and obtaining U.S. distribution rights, Blaisdell redesigned the lighter case, refined the windproof chimney and attached a hinged lid easily used with one hand. The name came about because Blaisdell liked the sound of the word zipper. After forming variations of the word settled on Zippo, which he felt had a modern sound.

First Zippo factory in Bradford, PA

The company started business over a garage on Boylston Street with 3 people, including Blaisdell who managed sales. In January 1933, the first Zippo® pocket lighter was produced. The application for the original Zippo® patent was filed in May 1934 and was granted in March 1936. While manufacturing standards have changed since then, the lighters are manufactured to the same exacting standards.

Early Zippo lighter factory

Blaisdell was determined to create an affordable lighter that was windproof and guaranteed to always work. He did both and in 1933, the first pocket lighter was marketed and sold for $1.95, backed by the now famous and unconditional lifetime guarantee. The application for the original Zippo® patent was filed in May 1934 and  was granted in March 1936. 

In the mid-1930s, the company's first major sales boost came when an Iowa insurance company ordered 200 engraved lighters as contest prizes for its sales staff. Shortly after, Kendall Refining Company, another Bradford, PA company, placed an order for 500 lighters as gifts for employees and customers and emblazoned with the oil company logo. These lighters believed to be the first company-advertised lighters produced by Zippo® have become highly-prized collectibles.

The Zippo® lighter's national advertising began in 1937 with a Christmas season ad in Esquire magazine.

By the 1940s, the lighter was so popular that Blaisdell bought a larger building on Barbour St in Bradford, PA. The factory was in the back and the office in front. Throughout the 1940s, the company acquired several more buildings and was able to build the factory across the street and use the original building for office space.

World War II Affected Production

In 1941, after the U.S. entered the war, Zippo Manufacturing Company dedicated all production to the military and ceased production of lighters for consumer markets from 1942 to 1945. When the government requisitioned all brass for wartime efforts, this led to production of the steel-case Zippo® lighter covered with black paint then baked to a crackle finish to prevent rusting. 

During WWII Zippo produced lighters exclusively for the U.S. military

Millions of U.S. military personnel carried the lighter, a significant factor that soon established the lighter as an icon worldwide. Supplying the military market resulted in full production for the PA plant which in turn, which made the company financially stable.

During the war, Blaisdell kept in contact with war correspondent Ernie Pyle, who wrote feature columns for Scripps-Howard Newspapers. Pyle lived the war next to soldiers in the trenches and sailors heading for sea battle and coined the phrase GI Joe. Blaisdell sent Pyle 50 to 100 lighters monthly to distribute among the GIs. The two men exchanged letters during the war years until Pyle was killed by a Japanese sniper in 1945.

War correspondent Ernie Pyle distributed Zippo lighters in WW II

In 1945, when the war ended, Zippo Manufacturing returned to producing and selling lighters for the consumer market. In its first 10 years, the company produced over 1 million lighters, by 1947, production had reached the 10 million mark. Today, service members buy the lighters as personal items, not as government-issued equipment, at military post exchange (PX) stores. 

The Zippo Advertising Story

One of Blaisdell's most popular advertising promotions was the Zippo Car. In 1947, he bought a Chrysler Saratoga and had it customized to promote sales The car had giant lighter doors with lids that opened and closed and a neon flame when the top was opened. The Zippo car led parades in all then 48 states. 

Original Zippo Lighter car in the 1950s

In the 1950s, the Zippo Car traveled cross-country advertising the lighter with the lifetime guarantee. Then in the early 1970s, the car disappeared from a Pittsburgh mechanic shop after the shop had closed. To this day, its disappearance remains an unsolved mystery. The company purchased a Chrysler New Yorker in 1996 and began modifications based on archival photos of the original. The replica which debuted in Bradford, PA, is often seen at festivals, trade shows and sporting events.

1950s point of purchase counter top display

Beginning in the mid-1950s, date codes were stamped on the bottom of every Zippo®  lighter. Although the original purpose was for quality control, these codes have become an invaluable tool for collectors.

A Zippo lighter found in a fish stomach made national news

In 1961, a story provided a real-life advertisement for the brand after a fisherman caught an 18-pound Northern Pike in Three Mile Bay, NY. When cleaning the fish, a Zippo lighter was found in its stomach. Not only was the lighter in perfect condition, but it lit on the first attempt. Zippo used this story in advertisements to highlight the lighter's durability and reliability. 

In 1950, Zippo® was issued a second patent. Today, the design of the lighter remains basically the same with minor improvements. Starting in the mid-1950’s, date codes were stamped on the bottom of every lighter. The original purpose was for quality control, but these codes have become an invaluable tool for collectors.

Zippo lighters have become a symbol of American culture featured in Hollywood films, Broadway and the music industry as well as advertisements. Over the years, a Zippo lighter has been featured in over 2,000 movies, stage plays and TV shows. The lighters have starred in such diverse productions as I Love Lucy, The X-Men and Hairspray – the Musical. Also, the famous Zippo “click” sound has been sampled on songs. The lighters have been featured on album covers, tattooed on rockers’ skin, and wielded in Rolling Stone photo shoots.

In the 1960’s concert-goers began raising the Zippo flame as a salute to favorite performers, this gesture became known as the Zippo Moment. 

Actor Bruce Willis famously used a Zippo lighter in the film, Die Hard

In 1962, Zippo produced its first non-lighter product, a steel pocket tape measure, or that had a design resembling the famous lighter. Other items have been added and deleted from the Zippo® line since then. Many of these have been geared to the promotional products division and included key chains, golf greenskeepers, pen-and-pencil sets and the ZipLight pocket flashlight.

A 1962 pocket measure carried the same repair guarantee as the lighter

During the 1970s, the company began expanding to overseas markets. In 2002, Zippo® obtained trademark registration for the shape of the lighter, a major milestone that helped to protect the brand from counterfeiters. 

Display of advertisements featuring the Zippo lighter

The 15,000-square-foot Zippo Museum opened in July 1997 and since then has hosted over 100,000 visitors annually. Collectors and tourists travel from throughout the U.S. and worldwide to tour the extensive exhibits which include:

• Zippo Rocks!, a collection of Zippo's role in music throughout the years.
• An Ally for the Allies, an exploration of Zippo's WW II contributions.
• The Greatest Supporting Actor of all Times, an illustration of each time a Zippo lighter has been in the Hollywood spotlight.
• It Works or We Fix It Free, a look inside Zippo's famous repair center.

Repair shop at Zippo Museum

Display of damaged lighters was outside museum repair shop

There's no charge to tour the museum and no time and our hour tour was self-guided. Stopping at this museum was an unexpected detour, but the displays were interesting and informative. They showed how a single product had integrated itself in lives through the years and still includes a lifetime guarantee. 

Company founder, George Blaisdell, who passed away in October 1978 at age 83, is remembered today for inventing the Zippo lighter, and also for his generosity. In the 1980s, the company was owned by six Blaisdell family members, including two daughters and their children. Today, grandson George B. Duke is the sole owner and Chairman of the Board of Zippo Manufacturing Company.