NFL Team Chrome Zippo Lighters

The windproof lighter emerged from Bradford, Pennsylvania, in 1932. George Blaisdell was smoking a cigarette on the porch of the Bradford Country Club when a local businessman walked past lighting his cigarette with a bizarre looking lighter, complete with a protective lid. Blaisdell inquired as to why the man was so mad to use such a device, and he simply replied: “well, it works”. So, Blaisdell took the idea upon himself to create what we now know as the Zippo. He named it the Zippo because he liked the word ‘Zipper’, and his first models sold for $1.95 (£1.37) which is around $35 (£24.60) today.

Even though his invention was spectacular, the lighter still needed help to gain monetary momentum during the years of the Great Depression. In 1936, Zippo created an ad for Esquire, but the advisement didn’t work. In fact, the company didn’t see any evidence of increased sales from the ad whatsoever!

The fantastic design of the Zippo’s chimney is one of the contributing factures that keeps it alight in the windiest of conditions. Zippo boasted about this by offering up the “the fan test”. They asked consumers to hold the Zippo up to a fan to see if its flame would blow out. Of course, it did not!

The first decade the company struggled with sales, but Zippo still persevered against the odds until a big break happened. Zippo gained a contract with the American Army in WWII; it allowed American troops to purchase the lighters in Army Exchanges and Ship Stores. Soldiers from Zippo’s hometown in McKean County, Pennsylvania were offered the lighters for free. The soldiers took their lighters to the front lines and discovered that the Zippos rugged design, ability to take almost any fuel and windproof ability was well suited in combat situations.

One of the reasons we love Zippo lighters is because of its lifetime warranty. The people at Zippo don’t care whether you bought it in 1937 or 2017, whether you snap the lid off just to test its strength or drop the insert overboard on your boat (we don’t recommend either of these); Zippo will always repair it free of charge. Buyers have taken Zippo up on this offer, and the company has made over eight million repairs to this day.

Ol’ Blue Eyes himself was buried with his beloved Zippo! Not only this, he was also buried with a bottle of Jack Daniels, a packet of cigarettes and some dimes, in case he needs to make a payphone call.

Length: 2.25 in
Width: 1.5 in
Height: 0.5 in
Feature: Chrome
Feature: Brush