On a lighter note!
The cave man couldn’t possibly imagine fire can be produced even without rubbing two rocks together. But when man started rubbing matches he certainly wanted something that would produce the fire without having to strike so much. One thing led to another and Mother Necessity gave birth to the lighter. The first lighters were converted flintlock pistols that used gunpowder.
In 1823, the famous German chemist
Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner invented the lighter and named it the “Dobereiner’s lamp”. But it was large and highly dangerous to use, hence it was not popular then. It was not until the end of the 19th century that the lighter became important again.
Users felt the need to include the lighter in their motor cars as well. The first electrical cigar-lighter was invented and patented by German inventor Friedrich Wilhelm Schindler in the 1880s. By 1890s these tools were sold as electrical cigar lighters.
In 1903, Carl Auer von Welsbach made the modern lighters as we see today. Having patented the
ferrocerium, he was able to develop a more practical and easy to use lighter. The technology was such that when the ferrocerium was scratched it produced a large spark. Using this flint, companies like Ronson were able to develop the “Pist-O-Liter” and in 1913, the company developed the first “Wonderlite” which was a permanent match style of a lighter.
The first truly automatic lighter came only in 1926. Named “Banjo”, it enabled users to press button which created the flame and a release button that extinguished the flame. By 1920s there were four types of lighters in the market - manual strikers, semi-automatic, automatic and sticker lighters. These lighters survived WWI and then came the age of Zippo lighter, which gave way to a new style of lighting. The Zippo had a “life time warranty” of lighting by using naphtha as a fuel source. The 1950s saw naphtha give way to butane, as it allowed a controllable flame and had less odor.
Modern day lighters come in various shapes, sizes and colors to suit tastes but the classics still remain the same. They say that the choice of lighter tells a lot about one’s personality. Be it plastic, metal or a zippo, the lighter is certainly a must-carry accessory of the smoker. Check out beverlyheels.com to select your statement lighter.
