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One of the most popular themes are character or figural designs. Many companies as well as military units use figures of real or imaginary beings as mascots in their corporate identity and branding. Examples of such personifications are
Reddy Kilowatt for electrical utility companies, Charlie the Tuna for Starkist, Pillsbury Doughboy and many others. This figures or characters of all shapes and sizes appear on can be found engraved on Zippo lighters and the hunt for these is what draws people to and keeps people collecting Zippos. These designs began to appear in earnestness in the early 1950's and continued into the
60's and 70's.
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1953 Zippo
with a man made of
machine nuts. The nut man is the
mascot for
National Screw Company
as can be seen on the 1957 lighter
on this
page below.
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1949-51 Zippo advertising Larkwood Stockings. A graphic
of a
lady's stocking-covered legs and
"3V's Vamp Tops,
Vamp Toe,
Volumetric
Control". |
1953 Zippo with a
graphic of family for Dairy Lea
Cooperative "direct from our farms to you".
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1953 Zippo with a
cute little Indian character of unknown origin. The signature of Otis H.
Bowden II
appears on the reverse. |
1956 Zippo with
Mr. Meadow Brook, a
confidence inspiring banker with a green
suit and
balding head. "Presented by The
Meadow Brook National Bank - your
world
at one - for fostering an informed community'.
The bank's name
was changed to National Westminster Bank in 1980.
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1957 with Doc
Dollar, a money
bag mascot for Franklin Finance
Company. |
Here is a genie
on a 1957 Zippo advertising Cool Queen Auto Air
Conditioner.
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1957 Zippo with
Willy Waxheart
with a crown on his head for
Warwick
Wax.
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1957 Nut Man (
See
above) for National Screw
& Mfg. Co.,
Cleveland - Los
Angeles. |
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1958 Zippo with
Willie Wiredhand
for Hancock County R.E.M.C. (Rutherford Electric Membership
Cooperative), a rural electric cooperative.
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A glass of orange
juice and a waterskiing southern belle is engraved on this 1958 Zippo for
Cypress Gardens, amusement park in Winter Haven,
Florida and Snively Groves Inc., one of Florida's largest
citrus growers. |
1959 Zippo with
the figure of a
painter for Higginbotham-Bartlett in Hermleigh,
Texas. The company history can be found HERE. |
1959 Burgie Man
was the mascot for Burgie Brewing, or Burgermeister
Brewing Company
of San Francisco, California. The company was
acquired by Schlitz
in
1961.
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1957 Zippo with
Neptune, God of the Sea, for "Hydraxtor "water wrings dry". a
clothes drying machine manufacturer in Molin, Illinois. |
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