Well, okay, Rilch, but was there a shark swimming around in your cola, and did it swallow your lighter, and did you subsequently catch the shark on a fishing expedition years later only to discover the Zippo in its stomach and find that it would still light on the first try?
I used to love reading those advertisements. I’ve never owned one (and now that I’ve quite smoking – yay me! – I never will), but I always thought Zippos were incredibly cool pieces of merchandise.
You do know that most of the better ones (Mark XIII and on especially) have extra wick in them right?
I had a zippo that I loved, that my ex gave to me. It was engraved with the day she gave it to me and had “Love, Deirdre” on it.
After she dumped me, and I quit smoking, I had no need for it anymore.
But I do love zippo’s.
Just wanted to point out that one of us got and enjoyed the reference!
– Uke, who dearly loves his Zippo and doesn’t understand why anyone would use those stupid plastic lighters
Aw geeze, guys. Thanks. You made my day.
::aide runs out, whispers in Zappo’s ear::
What? Oh. Sorry.
I love Zippos too. I haven’t carried one for years and probably couldn’t find my old battered chrome one if I tried. But I agree with Uke. Anybody who’d use one of those plastic disposables probably carries a plastic Bic pen in the inside pocket of their suit coat as well.
Now that I finally own a humidor, I probably should invest in another Zippo to keep next to it.
Zappo
Roald Dahl, yes?
It’s Man From The South, one of my favourite Dahl stories.
I used to have a Milk & Cheese Zippo lighter (featuring the two running around setting things aflame, yelling “Burn Baby Burn!”), which I absolutely loved. I don’t even smoke but it was handy on frequent camping trips, for instance. When we packed to move it disappeared somewhere; for all I know it’s in the corner of some box we haven’t opened and don’t intend to. 
I’m familiar with the story, but the best rendition of it is the Tarentino segment of Four Rooms. When Tim Roth goes trapesing (trapsing? strutting?) out of the room with his cash…it was hilarious.
Zappo, just make sure you let it burn for about 30 seconds before lighting your cigar, or it’ll taste like Ronsonol.
Simetra, those are date marks, not quality marks. Check their web site for how to date your lighter. Though I grew up thinking that too.
When I was about 12-13 years old, a friend and I were walking through the woods, and we found an old, rusty Zippo. At the time, neither of us smoked, but being young boys, we of course took it back to his house. We gave it to his dad, and forgot about it. A couple of months later, his dad showed us the Zippo, and explained how he mailed it in, and they repaired it, and sent back a letter explaining that this lighter was from sometime in the 50’s (they actually told the exact year, but I’ve forgotten it). While I can’t say it looked as good as new, it worked as good as new, and now it had a cool story behind it. Some people wonder why I’d spend $15-40 for a lighter, thats why.
As an avid collector of Zippos myself, I already know this, though I wasn’t clear in my post.
If you re-read what I said you’ll see that I meant, “From around Mark XIII and on, there is extra wick, usually on the higher quality ones.”
I just didn’t word it very well.
I’m with Ripple…I always lose my Zippos. Love 'em and leave 'em. sigh
Anyway, impress your friends!
Speaking as a grown-up Boy Scout and not-quite-reformed pyromaniac, I am willing to bet cash money that after smokers, Boy Scouts make up Zippo’s largest market demographic.
Our scoutmaster smoked like a chimney and always knew which one of us to ask for a light.
Hrrm most of my college buddies all had zippos.
NONE of them would light in even light wind.
Then again I imagine they didn’t add lighter fluid regularly or flints…
I have, on several occassions, had a Zippo engraved and given it as a gift. That way I know my gift is going to get used .
And my apologies for misreading. I was thinking of the others in the teeming millions (of which I was once one) who think that the number of slashes on the bottom indicate quality. I seem to remember a friend from high school saying that 4 slashes meant that you could light it on the wing of a flying passenger jet.
“Try the Fan Test”
If they are kept in good condition, they will light in very high winds indeed.
But I must say, Cigars are meant to be lit with matches.
stofsky: IIRC, the slashes and dots on the bottom of a Zippo indicate the year of manufacture or something like that. (I suppose I could go over to the Zippo site and find out…)
Zippo FAQs tell what the marks mean.
Zippos were the only reason why I was disappointed to give up smoking.