Let There Be Lighters! Lots Of 'Em

The flame still burns at the Zippo company.

Workers who crank out the American icon of reusable lighters paused Wednesday to celebrate the manufacture of the company's 400 millionth windproof lighter.

Although America is becoming less smoker friendly, collectors — and smokers in overseas markets — continue to drive up the demand for Zippos, best known for the distinctive click made by the lids of their brass-and-stainless steel cases.

Founded in 1932, the company took 10 years to produce its 1 millionth lighter — becoming a staple of Americana when Zippos were issued to U.S. soldiers during World War II — and 37 years to hit the 100 million mark.

The 300 millionth Zippo lighter was produced on April 15, 1996, meaning the company based in Bradford, about 130 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, has cranked out 100 million more lighters in a little over seven years.

Many have been snapped up by collectors, happy to hoard lighters engraved with everything from D-Day commemorations to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The company estimates there are 4 million Zippo collectors in the United States alone.

"Collecting certainly is a big part of our business today," said Zippo's owner and chairman, George Duke. "But the thing that keeps Zippo going as strong as it is, is we are a global company. We service 120 companies in the world."

Duke said his grandfather, George Blaisdell, who founded the company in 1932 in a shop above a garage with just six employees, would be stunned by the company's growth.

"Before 1987, we were in the international market in dribs and drabs. Since then, we've been fortunate to get into, and have been enjoying, these other markets — just like Coca-Cola, Ray-Ban sunglasses and other companies have since the 1980s," Duke said.

Zippo will make about 13.5 million lighters this year — but 55 percent of them will be sold overseas and 60 percent of those will go to Asian markets.

"Certainly, there are some strong anti-smoking sentiments in the U.S. But if we look to Asia, which is our second-largest market, smoking is not going down over there — in some places it's increasing," Duke said.

The 400 millionth lighter was etched with the words "400 Million" and is on display at the plant museum in Bradford. Each of the company's 750 employees was given a duplicate of that design, Duke said.

"My grandfather died in 1978, before we became a global business," Duke said. "If he were alive and saw us building 55,000 lighters a day, he just couldn't believe it."

By Joe Mandak