Military Lighters - All eras all brands

[General Apathy]

1 minute ago, jmd62 said:

Very cool ad Lewis!

.

Hi Jmd,

 

Thanks,  I wouldn't suggest putting your hand over the flame or it wouldn't be ' cool ' anymore . . . . . . 😜

 

.

 

thanks lewis.

 

.. 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Everyone’s favorite WWII fully-clothed pin-up, Windy:

 

 

Here’s some background from the official Zippo website: “The Windproof Beauty, later nicknamed Windy, was born when Zippo founder George G. Blaisdell approached popular glamour illustrator, Enoc Boles, to create an eye-catching, iconic figure to help imprint the Zippo lighter in the minds of Americans. Blaisdell figured that if the lighter’s functionality and lifetime guarantee did not inspire people to notice the Zippo lighter, perhaps a beautiful spokesmodel would.

 

Windy’s debut was in a full page ad in Esquire Magazine’s December 1937 issue.  Since then, she has captured the hearts of Zippo collectors around the world, appearing in a series of ads, and then later on several designs of the iconic windproof lighter.”

[easterneagle87]

Here is one of two I picked up:  Zeus

 

Robert Bruce McComb: Graduating with the Class of 1953, the Navy sent Scotty to Florida, California, Hawaii and Hong Kong. He attended submarine school in Newport, RI, eventually skippering the submarine, USS Archerfish 311, for two years in the late 1960s. Repurposed as a "Sea Scan" research vessel in the Pacific, the boat spent many months at a time at sea. Consequently, Archerfish was the only sub in the U.S. service in which all members of the crew were bachelor volunteers. 

[easterneagle87]

2nd lighter in the lot;  KONWAL Super

 

Don't know what association it has with the items I picked up in the McComb. Marine Barracks Yokosuka, Japan, From: Betty McHaney, 4-21-63   

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Two really nice ones, EE87! Always good to have the back story, as with Robert McComb. I wonder if Betty McHaney was a WM?

[jmd62]

1 hour ago, General Apathy said:

.

Hi Jmd,

 

Thanks,  I wouldn't suggest putting your hand over the flame or it wouldn't be ' cool ' anymore . . . . . . 😜

 

.

 

thanks lewis.

 

.. 

 So true  :D 

[yokota57]

US Army 8153d AU (AFFE) Japan Chemical Depot. Japanese-made "Wellington".

[Cobra 6 Actual]

 

Notice the spelling of “Pearl Harbour”, the British style spelling of “Harbor”. My guess is he had the lighter engraved at his last stop in Hong Kong, then still a British Crown Colony (BCC).

 

As an aside, the separation in British to American spelling occurred in Noah Webster’s  ‘A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language’ which was printed in 1806 and popularised the American English spellings that were being used instead of the British English spellings of words, such as honor instead of honour, color instead of colour, and so on.

 

[Salvage Sailor]

That's an interesting lighter for several reasons....

 

First, USS HAAS (DE-424) was a Naval Reserve vessel (not in commission, training reservists in New Orleans) and she was Decommissioned in 1958

 

Second, USS HAMUL (AD-20) was on her last assignment in 1960, detailed to Pearl Harbor to support the filming of "The Wackiest Ship In The Army", not on WESTPAC (see photos below)

 

USS Hamul (AD-20) moored pierside at Naval Station Pearl Harbor in 1960 with USS Fletcher (DD-445) and the sailing scow USS Echo (IX-95) alongside. This is a scene from the movie "The Wackiest Ship in the Army". The scow is not the real Echo.

 

In 1960 the USS SAINT PAUL (CA-73) had been home ported in Japan since 1959 as Flagship of the Seventh Fleet.  She was on a Presidential Cruise in June 1960 hosting President Eisenhower and his guests on the way to Manila in the Philippines via Okinawa (His Japan visit was cancelled due to tensions and unrest).  They then transited back to Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, where she remained the 7th Fleet Flagship for the next 39 months.  She also visited many more important ports of call than those listed on the lighter, including Nagasaki, Sasebo, Shimoda, Korea, Saigon where she hosted the new Vietnamese President and the Madame, and Taiwan where she hosted Chiang Kai Shek in Operation Blue Star (securing the Taiwan Straits).  See official cruise history below

 

 

So this may have belonged to a Reservist or quite possibly someone attached to the defense or diplomatic corps or even the press for this period.  You'll have to find Mr. D. D. Ryan to figure that out.

 

There ya go.....

 

USS SAINT PAUL (CA-73) manning the rails, 7th Fleet Flagship 1959

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks so much, Salvage Sailor, for all of that interesting background information. Much appreciated!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Merry Christmas, 1963, Enlisted Club (Marine Aircraft Group), Futema, Okinawa (Japan):

 

[yokota57]

Futema lighter: Vulcan? Penguin? Wellington? Other?

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Sorry, Yokota57, I meant to post that info: “Sure-Fire”.

[yokota57]

Very nice! Thanks

[Cobra 6 Actual]

The brand is “Tokyo”:

 

[yokota57]

Nice one C6A! "Tokyo" is new to me. I have over 60 non-Zippo makers/manufacturers to date. 2 German, 2 or 3 Korean, with the remainder Japanese. 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Yokota57, it’s a new one for me, also. I don’t know if anyone has ever tabulated all of the different makers that sold to GI’s, but I’m sure that list would be huge!

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Unfortunately, this lighter is not in great shape, but it is cool, nonetheless:

 

 

 

And here’s a pic of the bottom of the lighter with the manufacturer’s name and the cigarette “snuffer”:

 

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Not military, but Happy Halloween (really soon):

 

[Boy Howdy]

That's a boo-tiful lighter C6A.

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Thanks, BH. Happy Halloween, soon, to you and yours. Here’s a military slim Zippo:

 

[yokota57]

US Army / 1st Medium Tank Battalion (68th Armor Regiment/3d Infantry Division). Kitzingen, West Germany 1958-1963. Japanese-made "Vulcan".

 

WW2 68th Tank Battalion (6th Armored Div) Disney-designed "Toby Tortoise".

[Cobra 6 Actual]

Cool logo, there, Yokota57! Here’s an OSI Zippo:

 

[HMRoth]

My dad past in late August. I found and then fixed this lighter. Great keepsake and reminder of his service:.

[Salvage Sailor]

Great 25th Infantry Division 'Tropic Lightning' lighter, thanks for posting it and welcome to the forum