Encyclopedia of petrol lighters

New Berkeley in a box with instructions

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Absolutely beautiful, pristine Berkeley in the original box with instructions. He has an unusual insert - I first met the inscription 'Berkeley industries'. In addition, this is the first Berkeley, who I meet more and stamp on the bottom. Just a lovely sight!

Advertising Ronson Typhoon 1970 with concrete mixer

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Have not updated your zazhigalochny fleet! And here came Ronson Typhoon 1970 with the concrete mixer - brand new, no scratches! :)

Unusual Bowers № October 1950

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

This Bowers № 10 bit unusual and unlike their counterparts: the other notches on the lid and the windscreen is completely different:

Next to a normal model:

Tiny emblem on the front side:

Lighter Storm Master of the American Embassy in Moscow

Monday, November 16th, 2009

This lightweight aluminum Bowers Storm Master was a complete surprise. It is well known that the American Embassy in virtually every country of the world have, or at least used to have their Zippo lighters , which were used as gifts at parties and just were given to guests. I have always believed that it was only a Zippo. I was wrong - this is lighter Bowers from the American Embassy, ​​and more entertaining - from Moscow, USSR! It is difficult to determine the exact date of its release, but most likely, this lighter was born into the world at least the 1970s. Made in the USA, visited the Soviet Union and returned to the U.S., and now come back to Russia :)

PS Thank you to the distinguished botas, without whom I would hum that Bowers is not got! :)

Lighter Ingersoll Deluxe

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

Mysterious product branded Ingersoll Deluxe. A quick search shows that under the same brand in the years 1930-1940 in the U.S. produced watches with Mickey Mouse. More about Ingersoll know nothing :)

Lighter itself is very heavy for its size - it is suspected that the body is made of an alloy with the addition of lead (as evidenced and bluish-gray color of the metal, where worn). Wheel with straight incisions typical of the 1940s. The lighter has a classic cover gray crackle - "baked" paint. All in all - a very strong and do the thing thoroughly. Note the prominent wall thickness.

Austrian automatic lighter Noblesse

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

Small Austrian lighter Noblesse - anyone not like. It is automatic: when you press the lever lid opened, striking a spark. Cap pulled two springs, which can be seen inside. A typical representative of the "machine age" - the 1950s of the 20th century.

Austrian lighters Champ

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

In the 1950s and 1960s of the 20th century Austrian Champ produced some interesting and unusual lighters, form-factor they were regular "flip-tops" with a hinged lid, and here but inside they have been hiding a little surprise.

All the "Champa" had hinged windscreen! This was done for the convenience of lighting a pipe. Thus, one lighter with equal success, and fit for normal smokers, and for fans of the tubes.

In addition, lighters Champ marked by diversity of the case, (they were all in leather or imitation leather) and forms the windshield - there are three models (one narrow), and all three windscreen otlichetsya downright dramatically.

Methanol Lighter 1930: a dangerous gadget

Friday, October 30th, 2009

Today I'll show you one of the most unusual lighters ever get to the page of our website. Dangerous gadget: a self-igniting lighter, running on methanol, without flint and without any moving parts!

Such lighters its appearance in the 1920s of the 20th century (and are produced by several different companies, and up to 1950) are required to open the German chemist Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner, which essentially is the father and inventor of lighters as an instrument for making fire. In 1823 (wait for it - 186 years ago!) Dobereiner discovered the catalytic properties of platinum, in particular, the ability of spongy platinum or platinum black (platinum black - a fine powder of platinum compounds produced by reduction of pure platinum) Flammable hydrogen and facilitate other chemical reactions accompanied by heat and inflammation. On the basis of his discovery, he created the so-called Dobereiner lamp (or hydrogen flint), which in fact was the world's cigarette lighter, though damn uncomfortable and extremely dangerous:

This infernal machine worked like this: a bank zinc plate reacts with the sulfuric acid, resulting in a release hydrogen. When the valve is opened hydrogen rushed out, coming into contact with the platinum plate, causing an instant reaction proceeded to heat and fire. An unknown number of users of such lighters dead or mutilated during use! However, hydrogen is a flint and became the prototype for all future lighters - with him began the era of "wearable fire", which can be obtained relatively simple (albeit dangerous) way.

Methanol Lighter Ray-O-Lite works on the same principle Dobereiner. In the large compartment (where the inside is rolled wick) is filled with methanol (aka wood alcohol). Not very much, enough to soak the wick well. On the cover of the lighter in a small part of it is a small brass frame, which is stretched very thin platinum wire, and on it - a couple of balls that same platinum black:

To get the fire rather slowly submerge this frame with platinum balls in the large main compartment with a wick. Platinum react with methanol vapor, causing their heating and ignition.

Here are the instructions from the box with a description of the entire process:

You will not believe it, but this stuff really works! Unfortunately, I could not immediately find a methanol :) to conduct tests lighter (though I believe that it will work on ethanol, the main key to success - clean fuel agent). But on the Internet, I found a photo with a demonstration of a similar lighters:

Lighters Ronson Windlite and Ronson Typhoon

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

This article I am entirely devoted to, as promised in the first part of Ronsonovskoy stories , one of the most beautiful flip tops (lighter with flap) - Model Ronson Windlite and Ronson Typhoon.

Windlite model was launched in 1955 and marketed as a windproof lighter (note that in contrast to the Zippo, which was announced at the outset windproof, Ronson previously released only Whirlwind model with a rising wind protection).

On one of the posters Ronson Windlite was lit on the hood of a speeding race car!

Typical representatives of the mid-1950s, with the image of sports events such as the fisherman, patterns in art deco style, or just plain:

There was no Windlite inserts, bottom hull lap with a rubber gasket, and in the middle was a set screw, which can be unscrewed and thus gain access to the inside. Apparently, the new lighter bottom by loosening the screw was simply rotated 90 degrees, but with age in all the bottom is removed entirely (which, incidentally, does not affect the tightness - no fuel leak is not!). Pay attention to the corporate fat ronsonovsky wick:

I have found differences in the very first models Windlite and those produced later. First, different wheel mount (left - later rivet, right - the first cog):

Also, the first models Windlite wheel notches were tilted to one side (left), and all later - to another:

On the cover of four notches from the first model later replaced vertical inscription "Ronson":

When you hold Windlite in hand, he seems to touch more than a Zippo - but it seems only because of its greater weight. In height he was almost the same, except that a few more "tubby":

In 1961, Ronson released a new model, known as Typhoon. On Windlite 1950 it was not as, and above all constructive: Typhoon was made of a very light aluminum alloy (a fashionable spirit of the times), and in his hand was already lying is not as thoroughly as his older brother.

Ronson Typhoon model was patented in 1960:

Typhoon advertised as "the cheapest Ronson in history", as well as light Lighter - "34% lighter than its predecessor":

At its $ 2.95 and a 34% discount, he, in fact, looks like:

At the bottom there was a recognizable stamp:

Typhoon design has been more traditional, with insert. When I examine one inside instead of wool I found strange about five feet of string, which should keep domestic gasoline. Hard to say why they chose such a filler. It is present in all the "Typhoon":

Lightweight aluminum alloy did not go to the benefit of this model. If new it looked elegant, after pulling in your pocket quickly scratched and lost its appeal. But she used to be popular enough, because it was very cheap, in production and in retail. Here, for example, unusual and rare copy of "Vietnamese" Ronson with homemade engraved mid-1960s:

Form windbreaks have Typhoon and Windlite very characteristic reflects the general trend of industrial forms of those years. Look at how similar their windproof small screen, such as car radiators different eras - left 1960, right 1950:

Typhoon model produced much longer than its predecessor Windlite - until about 1980. Occasionally there are "Typhoon" with advertising logos engraved or overlaid.

Further - history. Elegant aristocrat Windlite never wanted to compete folksy Zippo, and Typhoon eventually "came to nothing", he could not stand all zippovskoy growing popularity.

But ... we remember them! :)

Drum Streamliter from Trenton, New Jersey

Sunday, October 25th, 2009

Funny striped Streamliter dark steel color and with a funny windscreen - as if it missed to the right number of holes:

In contrast to the first Strimlaytera of Bristol , this native of Trenton, New Jersey, although the same manufacturer - The Drum Company:

Two together: