Manufacturer
Zippo Manufacturing Company
founded 1932
Lighter
1970
Place madeBradford, Pennsylvania, United States
Metal
Overall: 2 3/16 × 1 3/8 × 1/2 in. (5.5 × 3.5 × 1.2 cm)
Gift of John R. Monsky
2015.45.71
Lightweight, durable Zippo lighters, manufactured in Pennsylvania, were readily available to the 2.5 million Americans who went to war in Vietnam. Covered in a soft chrome plate, the Zippo’s surface was easy to engrave, providing a canvas for individual expression.
Enterprising South Vietnamese, equipped with basic tools, could do a good business by supplying U.S. troops with Zippos engraved with stock slogans and imagery: military vehicles, weapons, unit insignia, and maps of Vietnam were all popular.
Servicemen also had Zippos embellished with designs and wording of their choice.
The assortment of ready-made and custom engravings found on the cigarette lighters offer a glimpse into the thoughts, humor, and bravado of Americans who served during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and early 1970s.
MarkingsOn bottom, "BRADFORD, PA./ || ZIPPO ® ||". On insert, "FOR BEST RESULTS/ USE ZIPPO/ FLINTS AND FLUID/ ZIPPO MFG. CO BRADFORD, PA./ ZIPPO ®/ MADE IN U.S.A."
ClassificationsSMOKING TOOLS & EQUIPMENT
DescriptionOn recto lid: "Bob Ayers/ C Btry/ 8/4 Arty"; on recto lower half: "For those who/ fought for it/ freedom has a/ taste the protected/ will never know"; on verso lid: "NOK"; on verso lower half is an image of the Playboy Bunny.Published ReferencesBuchanan, Sherry. Vietnam Zippos: American Soldiers' Engravings and Stories, 1965–1973. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007. pp. 96–97, ill. p. 96.Object NameLighter
