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Here are some amazing Zippo facts, straight from the company themselves!

• George G. Blaisdell invented the Zippo lighter in 1932 in Bradford, Pennsylvania.
• Zippo was given its name as a derivative of the word “zipper.” Zippo inventor George G. Blaisdell liked the sound of the word “zipper,” which had been patented in nearby Meadville, Pennsylvania
• The original price for a Zippo lighter was $1.95. Accounting for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index, this would be $30.34 in 2009 dollars. For comparison, postage stamps were 3 cents apiece and 6 boxes of kitchen matches cost 20 cents.
• Zippo started engraving initials and attaching metal insignias on lighters in 1935.
• The first patent for the Zippo windproof lighter was granted March 3rd, 1936. Patent No. 2032695.
• The basic concept of the Zippo windproof lighter has remained unchanged for over 70 years.
• The first corporate logo decorated 500 lighters in 1936 for Zippo’s cross-town Bradford neighbor, Kendall Refining Company.
• Zippo ran it’s first national advertisement in Esquire Magazine in December 1937.
• Between 1934 and 1940 Zippo sold more than 300,000 lighters through the use of punchboard advertising. Considered a game of chance, punchboards were ruled illegal in 1940.
• Since 1932 Zippo Lighters have been manufactured in Bradford, Pennsylvania. The location is stamped on the bottom of every lighter. Also, from 1949-2001, lighters made by Zippo Canada were stamped with the Niagara Falls, Ontario location.
• Since 1932 Zippo has produced over 400 million windproof lighters. Zippo celebrated the production of the 400 millionth lighter on September 3, 2003.
• If all 400 million windproof Zippo lighters were laid end-to-end they would stretch over halfway around the world or from New York City to Los Angeles 4 times.
• If all 400 million Zippo lighters were laid side by side, they would pave the streets of Zippo’s hometown, Bradford, PA, not once, but twice!
• All 400 million Zippos would fill 122 football fields, including end zones!
• Zippo now produces about 12 million lighters a year.
• In the late 1950s, a Zippo lighter was removed from the belly of a fish. The Zippo lighter lit the first time.
• A regular size Zippo lighter weighs 2.05 oz. A slim Zippo lighter weighs 1.50 oz.
• There are nearly 20 Zippo collector clubs around the world.
• 21% of the people who own Zippo lighters are collectors.

Source: http://zippo.com/community/zippo-fun-facts.aspx

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