What is this cigarette lighter thing you can see in the Maltese Falcon?

Cafe Society
1

This is one of my favorite movies, and several times in the movie either Spade or someone else uses this kind of gadget to light their cigarettes (you can see it at 3:13 in this rather silly youtube 7-minute version of the film).

There is a small knob handle on a small stick about the size of a wood match, the whole contained in a small holder that sits on a desk or table. The user holds the knob, pulls out the stick, then puts it into what appears to be a small depression, pushes it down and something clicks, and the end of the little stick starts to burn. To put it out, you put the little stick back in its holder.

So what is this thing called? I’d love to find one, but I don’t know how to look for something if I don’t know what to call it. I’ve asked around at a couple of antique stores but they didn’t know what I was talking about.

Oh knowledgeable dopers, please satisfy my undying curiosity. Thanks,
Roddy

2

I think what you are talking about is a Ronson ‘Touch-Tip’ lighter.
Here is a website with some items: Ronson Lighters Information, History & Museum: Touch Tip Lighters

3

Very cool lighter! It’s a shame cigarette smoking is unhealthy.

4

That’s it, thank you. I think I have to find one and buy it, now that I know what it is.

You never see them very closely in the movie, these are really beautiful! Even the everyday models like Sam Spade might have had are very nice to look at. I especially like the ones in 30’s Moderne styling, like the Streamline or the Oval.

Thanks again,
Roddy

5

:confused: Confused: how does it work?

Are you dipping it from sodium to water or something?

6

Most likely by pushing the button simultaneously:
(1) removing the lid from a wick that’s soaked in lighter fluid, and
(2) turning a abrasive steel wheel against a piece of flint.
The sparks from the flint light the fluid in the wick.