Armed Forces Zippos

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Zippo and The Armed Forces

World War II increased the popularity of zippo armed forces lighters more than any other event in history. Zippo’s entire production was allocated to the armed forces from 1943 through the end of WWII. Zippos’ company archives are overflowing with letters detailing the innovative ways that the Zippo lighter was ingeniously used and addapted to preform such tasks as, heating rations in a helmet, lighting campfires, lighting fuses for explosives, hammering a nail and signaling to other soldiers with the infamous Zippo click. On other occasions, a Zippo lighter has even saved lives by deflecting bullets aimed at soldiers when it was hit from being in a shirt or pants pocket of a soldier.
Ernie Pyle wrote, “Getting hold of a Zippo is like getting hold of a piece of gold…There is truly nothing an average soldier would rather have as a tool for basic survival.”

WWII Zippo lighters were made of steel rather instead of brass, because of the shortage of raw materials during that time. They were simply dipped in a black protective coating that kept from rusting. These “Black Crackle” lighters as thay are reffered to today by collectors, are very rare and highly sought after.