Monday, March 26, 1934

Went to school today with Pauline. Had History test today. Sure was hard. I rode the street car this p.m.

Founder's Zippo Lighter

This unique Zippo Lighter features the signature & image of George G. Blaisdell,
the founder of Zippo Lighters

Blaisdell founded Zippo Manufacturing Company in 1932, and produced the first Zippo
lighter in early 1933, being inspired by an Austrian cigarette lighter of similar design. It
got its name because Blaisdell liked the sound of the word "zipper" and "zippo" sounded
 more modern. On March 3, 1936, patent was granted for the Zippo lighter.

The original Zippos were made of brass but as this commodity was unobtainable due to
World War II, Zippo used steel. The soldiers liked them because they were "windproof" 
due to the design of the windscreen and adequate rate of fuel delivery. After World War
II, the Zippo lighter became increasingly used in advertising by companies large and small
through the 1960s.

The basic mechanism of the Zippo lighter has remained unchanged. A museum called
Zippo/Case Vsitors Center is located in Bradford, Pennsylvania at 1932 Zippo Drive. This
15,000 square foot building contains rare and custom made Zippo lighters, and also sells
the entire Zippo line. The museum also contains an enormous collection of Case knives. Since
 the Zippo company's 60th anniversary in 1992, annual editions have been produced for
worldwide Zippo collectors.