The Earliest Zippos

This tall 1933 Zippo has the decorative diagonal lines.  The hinge is original which is unusual, since the original hinges were fragile and often repaired.  A "35" has been scratched into the side of the insert.  The chimney has 16 holes and the lighter has a piston-spring.

This 1936-40 Zippo has advertising for "Be Square" in metallique.

1936-40 plain Zippo in a rare art deco silver box.

The first Zippo lighters  was introduced by George G Blaisdell in early 1933. These so-called 'Tall' models are extremely rare and are readily distinguishable by a flat bottom, square corners and an outside hinge. It is 2 7/16” tall, ¼ taller than later models and was produced in 1933 only.  Diagonal corner lines were added for decorative purposes in late 1933.  The square corner models were continued on in the regular size from 1934 through 1940.  An internal hinge replaced the outside hinge in 1936.  These early Zippos are not dated in any way, so with the exception of the 1933 tall model it is not possible establish year of manufacture with certainty.

The first advertising on a Zippo was produced for Kendall Oil & Refining Company in 1935.  Other advertisers soon followed.  Oil companies such as Gulf were early adopted of the Zippo lighter for their advertising. Some paint in the metallique on this Zippo is missing.

This 1936-40 Zippo with the initial "JEP" comes in a black and silver box that reads "Wind Proof Zippo Lighter - A week's trial, then - all the while".  It has an image of the pin-up girl "Windy" first used to advertise Zippo in Esquire Magazine in 1937.

In 1936, the outside hinge was replaced by an internal hinge.

 1936-40 reverse engraved Zippo with adverting for "Newark Hair Felt Co. Lansdale PA. - Quality, Quantity, Quick Shipment Guaranteed".

The Ultimate Zippo

Here is a very unusual early test-model 1934-36 Zippo. The outside hinge has been repaired.  The front lid has an attached stars & stripes flag emblem, and the case appears to have been prepared for the Town & Country sloop and the reverse has a line-drawn fisherman design.  Since the sloop and fisherman are both from the Sports Series introduced in the late 1940's, one could speculate that this lighter was returned to Zippo for repair in the 1940's, was replaced with a new one and then used as a scrap lighter for testing.

This plain 1934-36 Zippo is in near mint condition.  Any early Zippo with an original  outside hinge is highly sought after by most Zippo collectors.

The only noticeable differences between this 1934-36 Zippo and the 1933 model is the height of the case (1/4 inch shorter) and the insert which is slightly shorter too. It has the same outside hinge and the piston spring.

This lighter is a tall 1933 Zippo and has no diagonal lines, which makes it one of the earliest examples of the Zippo lighter.  It has been repaired as the hinge has been replaced. The original hinge has three barrels, while the hinge on the repaired Zippo has a non-chromed four barrel hinge.  The inserts on the early Zippos had no markings and the bottom of the case is marked "Pat. Pending".