Lighter development advanced greatly during World War I, as soldiers found them much more useful than matches, which caused a large spark when lit, easily giving away the positions of soldiers in the dark. Various other types of lighters appeared throughout the late 1800’s, most of them making use of a wheel striking a ferrocerium flint, or a similar flint-like substance. The Feuerzeug was a huge success, with an estimated 20,000 in use by 1828.īut the Feuerzeug, in all its effectiveness, was not very safe, and would probably be illegal today. The device created hydrogen gas in a tube from a reaction of sulfuric acid and zinc together, which would ignite after passing through a platinum sponge. He created the precursor to the lighter, which he called the Feuerzeug (often referred to as ‘Döbereiner’s Lamp’). The lighter wasn’t invented until 1823 by a German chemist named Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner. The match wasn’t invented until about 1805, and early matches were expensive and dangerous. Just by browsing eBay auctions for ten minutes, for example, I recently found a lighter shaped like a lion’s head, one made of jade and gold, and an electric lighter in the shape of a woman’s face that hangs on the wall.Ī flame we can carry in our pockets is something that we take for granted, but it was much harder to make fire in earlier times. In this article, Eric Beeson talks about collecting vintage cigarette lighters, including brands such as Zippo, Ronson, and Dunhill.Ĭigarette lighter collecting is a hobby that never gets boring.
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