Zippo lighter

[MLSS]

My father recently passed away and a zippo lighter was passed down to me from him. When I saw it I figured it was either a gift from his older brother or belonged to him because of the globe and anchor emblem on the front (marine Corp for the non Americans) My uncle fought in the Korean War.

I did some research and could not locate the date stamps so I learned it was pre 1955, then after more research I learned that particular zippo logo was used from 1948-1955.
I was then able to date it further by the patent number and because of the "patent pending" learned it was made between 1950 and 1955.

Pretty cool right?

 

[Unforgiven]

That's awesome.

 

[MLSS]

That's awesome.

I talked my my cousin and he said that his dad had it in his hope chest with his medals for years and years. I think he must have given it to my dad before he passed away 16 years ago.
He said my uncle bought it in New York before shipping out to Korea and carried it throughout the war.
He carried that lighter through 2+ years of hell in Korea.
This is something that will never leave my family

 

[Bg260]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing. Hard to believe that, technically, that war never ended.

 

[MLSS]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing. Hard to believe that, technically, that war never ended.

Not to the folks who man posts on the DMZ anyways lol
Spent 9 months in Korea. 4 of those on the DMZ.

 

[MLSS]

All it needs is a new Flint and some fluid and it would light right up. I'm not a smoker but someday I may light it just for giggles.

 

[Mikestony]

If Zippos could talk eh?
That is too cool to have! Nice

 

[olbriar]

That is very cool! And, it's my understanding that older Zippo lighters are collectible... not that you would ever part with it. Once, while fishing a fish salvage (a time when a small lake is drained and cleaned as well as restocked) two men were combing the areas under the docks... looking for old Zippo lighters.

 

[Member243850]

Wow that is one awesome story!

Well I have an interesting family tree myself but I am reluctant to speak about it here as some of the things my great grandfather did was illegal and I am not too sure I should say it here.....hhmmm..... hmm argh why the hell not?

My great grandfather moved to England temporarily from SA when he served in WW1 but.... he was far too young to enter into the British Royal air force I think you had to be over 18 I think so? - so basically he did something a little bit .... illegal to get in to the Air Force ... lol my family has some extremely crazy mother ****ers in it hahahahaha

So after he paid someone to do his medical and to fool the system that he was old enough to get into the air force illegally under age... he then was flying around as a teenager..... looooool!! ... yes we are a very crazy family

hahahahahaha xD lol we are such a mad bunch lol hahahaha

And so when his wing commander got shot down and crashed behind enemy lines from those "evil" Germans ... the Germans were coming to blow him away when my crazy great grandfather flew his plane down they were all shooting at him and he jumped out and grabbed the wing commander and tossed him into his plane and flew off...

He could never walk the same after that because they blew him full of holes... he had one shoe that was thicker than the other to accommodate for what had been blown away... I think I remember him briefly in my younger years... very crazy guy

He was nominated for the Victoria Cross and a street was named after him here in SA.... he was a war hero... he was very crazy hehehehe

lol my family is filled with very crazy people hahaha! xD

Awesome story about the lighter though very cool

 

[MLSS]

That's terrific...more the story than the lighter, of course. That you also have the box is what would drop collectors to their knees.

As I get older I realize the greater importance of memories...we make them all of our lives, so we may as well make good ones.

Thanks for sharing.

The ones with advertising go for the highest values. Some of those go for thousands, but to have a 60 plus year old Steel zippo with no pitting is very very rare.
I saw some similar ones going for 4 or 5 Hundred dollars without the box. It will stay in the family though. I'm building a display case for it this weekend.

 

[PyroSporker]

Really cool!
Sorry to hear about the loss of your Father (and Uncle)
But what a cool memento to receive. You posted this earlier and I've been thinking about this a bit today.
I like your display case idea for it. I think I would be compelled to carry it with me, which would be a mistake since it is in nice shape and has the box or advert with it.

I don't smoke either but I would still want to carry it. But I'm partial to fire starting devices. Could even be a life saving device in the right situation.
I think I would buy a new modern zippo, maybe even with Marine regalia on it. Then get it etched (you wouldn't want to etch an antique for fear of stripping its monetary value or changing its personal meaning to you) on the bottom with the Dad and Uncle's names or birthdays or something. A legacy piece you could carry everyday then give to your daughter (or son) someday. I think you mentioned your daughter once in the HTC 10 forum.

 

[Member243850]

Wow yes I forgot to mention my condolences sorry to hear what had happened to your uncle and father!

Awesome story though I really like how interesting some other peoples lives are

I think war is such a terrible thing and it should just be avoided but sadly it can be a very crazy world with very evil people in it.

Such an awesome story though

I hope I was not rude or something with my story about my great grandfather just trying to maybe add something interesting for you all but sometimes I duff it up and get people upset / angry and I am not eve sure why sometimes.

Hopefully I wasn't being rude though

Very very cool story!

Thank you very much for sharing it I love antiques and interesting stories

We have a NAZI Germany WW2 Knife in the family - it is still in extremely good condition to this day.

Awesome piece of history and it's built to last it is still in amazing condition.

Very interesting how so much work went into creating just a knife - very interesting I wonder how much it is worth?

 

[MLSS]

Really cool!
Sorry to hear about the loss of your Father (and Uncle)
But what a cool memento to receive. You posted this earlier and I've been thinking about this a bit today.
I like your display case idea for it. I think I would be compelled to carry it with me, which would be a mistake since it is in nice shape and has the box or advert with it.

I don't smoke either but I would still want to carry it. But I'm partial to fire starting devices. Could even be a life saving device in the right situation.
I think I would buy a new modern zippo, maybe even with Marine regalia on it. Then get it etched (you wouldn't want to etch an antique for fear of stripping its monetary value or changing its personal meaning to you) on the bottom with the Dad and Uncle's names or birthdays or something. A legacy piece you could carry everyday then give to your daughter (or son) someday. I think you mentioned your daughter once in the HTC 10 forum.

That's actually a really nice idea. I may do that.
This lighter will get passed down to my son someday.

 

[MLSS]

Wow yes I forgot to mention my condolences sorry to hear what had happened to your uncle and father!

Awesome story though I really like how interesting some other peoples lives are

I think war is such a terrible thing and it should just be avoided but sadly it can be a very crazy world with very evil people in it.

Such an awesome story though

I hope I was not rude or something with my story about my great grandfather just trying to maybe add something interesting for you all but sometimes I duff it up and get people upset / angry and I am not eve sure why sometimes.

Hopefully I wasn't being rude though

Very very cool story!

Thank you very much for sharing it I love antiques and interesting stories

We have a NAZI Germany WW2 Knife in the family - it is still in extremely good condition to this day.

Awesome piece of history and it's built to last it is still in amazing condition.

Very interesting how so much work went into creating just a knife - very interesting I wonder how much it is worth?

I don't think you ruffled any feathers. No worries. [emoji3]

 

[dontpanicbobby]

Depends on where you sell it stinky stink In Germany I believe you'd be arrested. In the U.S. $20 to $4,000 depending on which dagger it is and if it's real with some kind of provenance The German's had lots of daggers in WWII.

 

[CenturionB]

That's awesome

 

[Bearsyzf]

That's cool!!!!!! hold on to it for dear life.