# got a light? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 15, 1999, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-light/1040 "1999-06-15T00:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-light/1040/1 "1999-06-15T05:16:00Z")
I read somewhere that the cigarette lighter was invented before that match. By “cigarette lighter” does one mean a handheld contraption that feeds lighter fluid into a spark to create a flame to light a cigarette, or does it mean simply two flint stones rubbed together near any object to be lit? Can anyone confirm the claim? * * * I don’t know who first said “everyone’s a critic,” but I think it’s a really stupid saying. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-light/1040/2 "1999-06-15T05:49:00Z")
I would venture to say a “cigarette lighter” is a device or set of instruments and intructions designed to light a _cigarette_, but what do I know? Suppose you tell us where you read this “claim,” and maybe we can pin that definition down. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-light/1040/3 "1999-06-15T00:57:00Z")
I read it in an e-mail forward. Yeah, yeah, I know that’s not the most reliable source, but it was preceded and followed by other facts that I have learned to be true. * * * I don’t know who first said “everyone’s a critic,” but I think it’s a really stupid saying. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-light/1040/4 "1999-06-15T02:23:00Z")
I read about that too, a long time ago. It was a contraption that used flint and liquid fuel. Pretty much like the ones used today. Sorry, Can’t cite. And too lazy to look for it. 🙂 Peace, mangeorge * * * Work like you don’t need the money… Love like you’ve never been hurt… Dance like nobody’s watching! Source??? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-light/1040/5 "1999-06-15T04:38:00Z")
I doubt that it was called a “cigarette lighter.” Cigarettes are fairly recent. And their popularity over cigars didn’t really get a boost until WWI. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-light/1040/6 "1999-06-15T15:59:00Z")
The friction match was invented (from memory) around 1830ish. If you consider flint-and-steel to be a “lighter”, then I suppose it predates the match. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-light/1040/7 "1999-06-15T16:17:00Z")
Match: 1549 Lighter: 1553 Match came first. Don’t trust email signatures 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 1999, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-light/1040/8 "1999-06-15T16:41:00Z")
handy, From where did you get those years? Who were the inventors/popularizers? What material was used for friction to light the match? Was the lighter a single, relatively small contraption, or was it a kit containing two rocks and some lighter fluid? Details, man, details. * * * I don’t know who first said “everyone’s a critic,” but I think it’s a really stupid saying. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 1999, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-light/1040/9 "1999-06-16T15:54:00Z")
Just looked it up in Websters Pete. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 1999, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-light/1040/10 "1999-06-16T16:08:00Z")
Were they cracking petroleum products back in 1553, or did they have to render a whale before they could fire up? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 1999, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-a-light/1040/11 "1999-06-16T23:33:00Z")
Some people were using unrefined crude for fuel here long before the invaders got to this continent. Peace, mangeorge