While Zippo collecting is the main focus it has led to a fascination with other types of lighters & tobacciana as well - the range of different mechanisms with the same purpose is amazing.
America :-
Evans
ASR American Safety Razor Co.
Negbaur Harry Negbaur designed & owned Negbaur Lighters circa 1940.He was a tool and die maker for the Dollin Die Casting Company of Irvington, New Jersey, that cast the figures.
Park
a.k.a. Park Sherman, of Springfield, Illinois, USA
Others
Berkeley made by the Flashlight Company of America, Jersey City, N.J.
Capitol - an automatic petrol cigar lighter. Capitols were likely manufactured in the late 1920's-early 1930's and none date from before 1924. The unusual brass plated lighter features a mechanical snap up levered mechanism - this mechanism was first invented in 1923 by Josef Kluss of Vienna - Kluss was an important Austrian inventor of mechanical lighters but he never patented his inventions in the USA. Louis Aronson copied the Kluss invention with a 1925 version but never put it into production. Steele and Johnson of Waterbury also copied the Kluss mechanism with their Capitol model. They used a 1912 George Eldred patent to avoid possible litigation. All Capitol lighters are marked with the Eldred patent date - Sept 17 1912 - on thumb lever. Steele & Johnson were major producers of brass accessories and they mostly made their Capitol lighter in brass. It appears that some Capitols had a cigarette ashtray base & some didn't. (Most of this info comes from Larry Tolkin's study of them)
