Linda L. Meabon - Zippo Manufacturing Company (PA)

The first Zippo factory was located on the second floor of the Rickerson and Pryde building. George G. Blaisdell paid $10 a month rent for the room over an automobile garage. Here, the text in the large window reads, Zippo Windproof Lighter. A portion of this building still stands today at the wye intersection of Pine and East Washington Streets in Bradford.

George Blaisdell is shown in the foreground as a young boy growing up in Bradford. George Grant Blaisdell was born June 5, 1895, to Philo and Sarah Blaisdell in Bradford. The family home still stands at the corner of Congress Street and Blaisdell Avenue.

George Blaisdell (fifth from the left) is seen here with a group of friends outside of the Bradford Billiard Parlor.

An Austrian lighter inspired George Blaisdell to invent the Zippo lighter. Smoking on the porch of the Bradford Country Club, George Blaisdell asked local businessman Dick Dresser why he was all dressed up and using such an awkward lighter. Dresser replied, Well, it works. That statement stuck with George Blaisdell, and he set out to produce a lighter that required one-handed operation, was windproof, and was guaranteed to work.

Shown here is the inside of the first Zippo factory in the Rickerson and Pryde building. The first factory had three employees, including George Blaisdell, who also managed sales of the lighter. The 1930s were not the ideal time to start a business because of the lingering effects of the Depression.

The attached tag on the prototype of the first Zippo lighter reads, First Zippo lighter, Do not touch. The note is in George Blaisdells handwriting. Now a museum exhibit in the Zippo/Case Visitors Center, this lighter was found tucked away in George Blaisdells desk after he passed on. In 2000, the History Channel filmed this lighter and portrayed the story of its discovery in a segment of Historys Lost and Found.

Produced in 1933, the first Zippo lighters were rectangular in shape, and a -inch taller than Zippo lighters produced today, with the entire hinge soldered to the outside of the lighter case. The case and inside lighting mechanism were cut from brass tubing. Small rectangular brass pieces were soldered into the top and bottom to complete the lighter case. Later in 1933, decorative lines were added to make the lighter more attractive. The first patent for the Zippo lighter, patent No. 2032695, was issued March 3, 1936.

The first printed Zippo guarantee is seen here. The guarantee that it works or we fix it free was placed in the gift box of every Zippo lighter. Even today, if your Zippo lighter or any other genuine Zippo product fails to work, it will be repaired at no charge when returned to the Zippo factory. The Zippo guarantees word-of-mouth advertising was the first advertising for Zippo lighters.

George Blaisdell proudly displays a giant replica of his Zippo lighter in his office at 36 Barbour Street c. the late 1940s.

The Zippo factory on Barbour Street can be seen to the left of the houses in this March 1953 photograph.

This building at 36 Barbour Street was the first Zippo real-estate purchase. The factory was located in the back of the building, and the office was in the front. This building is now used for storage and is located next to the armory. This is how the building appeared in the 1940s.

Zippo acquired several buildings on Barbour Street in the late 1940s, enabling the factory to be located across the street from the office building. The sign above the door in this picture reads Zippo Factory Offices.

Employees repair Zippo lighters inside the Famous Zippo Clinic at 33 Barbour Street in the late 1940s. The repair clinic was George Blaisdells favorite department. He visited it daily, seeking customer feedback and information. He used Zippo consumer information to make slight improvements to the Zippo lighter and for ideas for new designs to be imprinted on the lighters.