Why Cox the Saddler Ltd. Sells Zippo Cigarette Lighters
Zippo was created in 1932 by George Blaisdell, an oilman who watched a friend struggling to light a woman’s
cigarette on a breezy day. In the small town of Bradford, Philadelphia, Blaisdell tinkered away, and built a small
chimney around a wick to produce a windproof lighter. He gave it the famous lifetime guarantee and called the
company Zippo.
During World War II Blaisdell, a very smart promoter, shipped hundreds of Zippos to generals and war correspondents.
Word of the lighter's durability and dependability spread, and the U.S. government ordered every lighter the Zippo
Manufacturing Company could produce between 1943 and 1945.
When Blaisdell died in 1978 Zippo went to his two daughters, Harriett Wick and Sarah Dorn. They knew the business
quite well having grown up stuffing cotton wicks into Zippos. Today their children work for the company too.
Save a few minor changes in the flint wheel and case finishes, the Zippo remains nearly exactly as George Blaisdell created
it over 70 years ago. Today, the Zippo brand makes tape measures, knives, money clips, writing instruments and key holders,
all engravable and personalizable to the owner. The American-made quality and Lifetime Guarantee makes the Zippo lighter
a valuable collector's item around the world, with collectors' clubs in England, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Japan,
and of course, the United States.
We like the quality of the Zippo product, the lifetime Zippo guarantee and the fact the lighters haven't changed much in nearly
three quarters of a century, much like our own saddlery.