Cigarette Lighter

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Smokers, survivalists, teenagers, collectors.... The cigarette lighter is a charged, complex, yet often entirely disposable object that moves across these various groups of people, acquiring and emitting different meanings while always supplying its primary function, that of ignition. While the lighter may seem at first a niche object-only for old fashioned cigarette smokers-in this book Jack Pendarvis explodes the lighter as something with deep history, as something with quirky episodes in cultural contexts, and as something that dances with wide ranging taboos and traditions. Pendarvis shows how the lighter tarries with the cheapest ends of consumer culture as much as it displays more profound dramas of human survival, technological advances, and aesthetics. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

Extraordinary cigarette lighters can be found in the strangest of places--in a garage sale, at a swap meet, perhaps even in your own basement. This convenient, revised and updated handheld guide introduces a history of lighters through a comprehensive, alphabetical presentation of styles, organized according to company name and dating from the late 1800s through the 1980s.Well-known makers such as Dunhill, Ronson, Evans, Scripto, and Zippo are included, as well as unusual lighters from lesser known companies. Never before has a book shown such variety of lighters with this much detail and color: over 800 lighters are illustrated along with current updated market values, along with over 35 new images. Whether you are a collector of lighters or interested in design, this book will give you insight into the style, beauty, and value of cigarette lighters. And once you start collecting, it may be hard to break the habit!

Collector's guide to over 500 lighters. Includes a price guide. Illus., quarto.

These full-color collector's guides have hundreds of photos, complete descriptions, vintage ads, and current values. Chapters include advertising, Art Deco, military, novelty, cheesecake, animals, Occupied Japan, pocket and table lighters, and more. Book II, with over 400 color photos, is a companion volume with no repeats of Book I. Book I includes 1998 values, while Book II has 1996 values.

Information about the Midland Jump Spark Cigar Lighter; how it works, how to repair it, and history.