The story of the Zippo Manufacturing Company began in the 1930s, at the Bradford Country Club in Bradford, Pennsylvania. George Blaisdell watched his friend operate a visibly impractical lighter with both hands. Although it worked despite strong winds, its appearance was mediocre, it quickly became dented and the design was impractical. George Blaisdell had an idea and set to work. He added a small, rectangular housing with a hinged lid to the chimney to protect the flame from the wind. This meant the new lighter could be operated lightly with one hand. George liked the word Zipper, he played with the letters and the result was Zippo.
He filed the first patent in 1934. The first model from 1933 can be seen today in the Zippo/Case Museum in Bradford. After the USA entered the Second World War, Zippo exclusively produced lighters for the military. Zippo grew rapidly thanks to these orders and millions of American soldiers carried the lighter with them in battle. This is how the lighter spread around the world as an American cult brand. Blaisedell's penchant for eye-catching advertising campaigns did the rest. After the end of the war, Zippo sold its lighters to end consumers again. The second patent followed in 1950. The design has only been slightly adapted to this day. The date, which has been stamped on the underside of every lighter since the mid-1950s, was originally used for quality control purposes. In the meantime, it has become an important piece of information for collectors, who meet and exchange information in collectors' clubs all over the world. The Zippo moment originated in the 1960s when enthusiastic fans lit their Zippo lighter during concerts for their favorite artists. Zippo kept bringing other products onto the market for promotional purposes, but these soon disappeared again. In the 70s, Zippo also began selling its lighters overseas.
In 1997, the Zippo/Case Museum opened its doors, which also houses a store and the Zippo Repair Clinic. Zippo's guarantee promise is: "It works or we fix it free." - The lighter works or Zippo will fix it for free.
The shape of the lighter was registered as a trademark in 2002. The refillable Zippo MPL multi-purpose lighter was also launched at this time. In 2010, Zippo ventured into the outdoor market with a metal hand warmer, which was followed by an entire line. Fire-related products such as the emergency set for lighting fires or camping equipment. The Zippo lighter games in more than 2000 films as a prop or sometimes even a leading role and is probably known to many as a promotional lighter. The Zippo click was used for songs, its photo adorned album covers and was tattooed onto the skin of rock stars. To date, more than 500 million lighters have been sold all over the world. George B. Duke, the grandson of the founder, is now the owner and CEO of Zippo and is constantly expanding the product range. Today, the company also includes the Ronson Consumer Products Company, which also produces lighters and lighter fluid, and the W.R. Case and Sons Cutlery Company.