Who remembers flipping the wheel on that beautiful chromed-out Zippo? Like the thirteen-button crackerjack Navy Blues, the Zippo lighter is a cultural icon of the Navy Sailor. The ship’s crest and slogans engraved on them give a distinct look inside the minds and lives of those who served before us.
Zippos
have a long history in this here canoe club. When America entered the Second
World War after Pearl Harbor, the Zippo company stopped selling its lighters
to the consumer market and instead dedicated the entirety of its lighter
production to the United States military. Many of those lighters survived the trials
and tribulations of saltwater candor and burnt-out boilers only to be treasured
and collected for money as well as sentimental value.
The image
of a Zippo with the ship’s insignia blaring on the front tucked into the front
pocket of some faded-out dungarees or in the dress blues with a picture of
Marie-Lou and a pair of Trojans for that special moment is seared into the
minds of us old farts. They went well with a pack of Camels, Lucky Strikes, or
Marlboro Reds … the typical choice in my day. Some bought a Zippo at the Ship’s
Store … maybe even an extra one for their dear old Dad back home. Even the
lighter fluid was good for shining brass belt buckles for inspection purposes.
I saw an
advertisement once that read, “Zippo lighter - it's not just a lighter; it's
the best company a man could have.”
When the USS Forrestal caught on fire, she had many a nickname from Forrest Fire to Firestal, and yes, even the USS Zippo. The lighter has made quite the impression on the sailors before us and still do to this day. When you hear them say a dog is a man’s best friend, the person in question obviously never owned a Zippo. There may never be anything like it again, except for Frank’s Hot Sauce, ‘cause Grandma puts that shit on everything…
Can't beat a Zippo lighter or the company that makes them! While home on leave and visiting a young lady I was interested in, I was lighting my pipe on the dock that went out on their pond. The lady's younger brother snuck up on me and startled and the lighter went flying into the pond. It was my VA-176 squadron lighter, and it spent between 10 & 12 years on the bottom of that pond before her brother managed to find it. The finish and paint were pretty well shot as well as the lighter itself fairly corroded. I sent it off to the Zippo company with instructions to bill me for it's restoration. Several weeks later I received it back, fully reconditioned with a new lighter insert. My initials were still engraved inside the lid. Did they bill me? Not one red cent! Zippo will always be at the top of my list for a company of quality and integrity.
ReplyDeleteStill have, and use the Zippo my daughter gave me 20 years ago
ReplyDeleteI still have the one I got, along with a Certificate, for being part of the security detachment for the Manila Summit Conference in 1966. Still in the box, never been used. Inscribed with Presidential Seal and LBJ'S signature
ReplyDelete