# Penguin lighters **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 19, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguin-lighters/743610 "2016-01-19T19:48:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguin-lighters/743610/1 "2016-01-19T19:48:55Z")
An offshoot from [the Zippo collection thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=726454). Does anyone know anything about Penguin lighters? One type looks like Zippos, but were made in Japan. They seemed to be popular in the '60s. The non-Zippo type, the kind with the ellipsoid bodies and the mechanism on top [like these](https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2873/12290496944_50e5a58330.jpg), seem often to advertise a particular brand of cigarettes. The Zippo-style ones do as well. ([Example.](https://img0.etsystatic.com/040/0/6967503/il_570xN.508954702_57e4.jpg) – do they still make Lucky Strike cigarettes?) Browsing, I see many with military insignias on them; which would make sense for a Japanese brand in the '60s. Zippo and Ronson have their own Wikipedia pages; but I’m not finding anything on Penguin. Was there a Penguin company? Or was it a brand by a manufacturer with another name? When were they made? Did the cigarette companies pay them to use their logos? Or was it the other way round? Whatever happened to them? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguin-lighters/743610/2 "2016-01-19T20:18:10Z")
Sorry, **Johnny L.A.** , I have nothing useful to contribute (Surprise!). My mind went [here](http://s287.photobucket.com/user/x_dmoney_x/media/firetux.png.html). ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguin-lighters/743610/3 "2016-01-19T20:54:12Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Sorry, **Johnny L.A.** , I have nothing useful to contribute (Surprise!). My mind went [here](http://s287.photobucket.com/user/x_dmoney_x/media/firetux.png.html). Same here, with some idle speculation about flammability of oily feathers. In an effort to be at least vaguely helpful, however, I used my Google-fu a bit. According to a [collector’s page](http://www.collectorsweekly.com/tobacciana/cigarette-lighters), Penguin was a manufacturer: > [@](#): > > Other key lighter manufacturers include Zippo, Dunhill, Penguin, Colibri, S.T. Dupont, Scripto, and Evans. They appear to have made a lot of promotional lighters. ---
**Author:** ![BaconLover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@BaconLover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaconLover)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguin-lighters/743610/4 "2016-01-19T22:28:50Z")
When I saw the title of this thread, I thought it was going to be about setting penguins on fire. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguin-lighters/743610/5 "2016-01-20T03:45:04Z")
This is not helpful AT ALL: If you and Mr. Penguin were in your rowboat and you didn’t have a match for your ciggie, you’d throw the bird overboard and your boat becomes a penguin lighter. ::POOF! Where’d he go?:: ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguin-lighters/743610/6 "2016-01-20T05:18:22Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > If you and Mr. Penguin were in your rowboat and you didn’t have a match for your ciggie, you’d throw the bird overboard and your boat becomes a penguin lighter. But, if it were a barge, rather than a rowboat, it would also become a penguinless [lighter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighter_%28barge%29). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguin-lighters/743610/7 "2016-01-20T05:42:33Z")
Excellent. ::Tenting my fingers:: I believe our work here is done. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguin-lighters/743610/8 "2016-01-20T06:51:15Z")
If memory serves me right Penguin may have been the name of the advertising item manufacturing company/branding company. I remember not just the lighters but other smoking related items carrying that name like cigarette cases and possibly ashtrays. Many were advertising but not all. (I was heavily into lighters many ages ago but more the visible fluid models like this [https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/f8/37/5d/f8375d0ea82ad329d6ac6080d7e77e0e.jpg](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/f8/37/5d/f8375d0ea82ad329d6ac6080d7e77e0e.jpg) ) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguin-lighters/743610/9 "2016-01-20T07:27:07Z")
I’d have thought a Puffin would suit smokers better. ---
**Author:** ![pete66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8c91f0/32.png) [@pete66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pete66)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/penguin-lighters/743610/10 "2016-01-21T20:12:10Z")
> **[Penguin Cigarette Lighter](https://pawnstarsthegame.fandom.com/wiki/Penguin_Cigarette_Lighter)** > > "Nothing fancy here, but it seems to be authentic and it seems to work. Not very valuable, but it's not fake if that's what you're asking." -Expert Fact 1: Penguin is a manufacturer of refillable cigarette lighters, flashlights, and other novelties.... According to this, Penguin made them for the cigarette companys.