Zippo in World War 2 (Featuring: "The Greatest $5 Zippo Find Ever?")
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- čas přidán 7. 05. 2024
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I know there is alot of videos regarding this topic, however I am super excited to share my first black crackle Zippo.
Ever since collecting, it has been on my "Zippo Bucket List" to find a WW2 Black Crackle Zippo for $5. I have had many opportunities to purchase one for market value, but I wanted my first Black Crackle to be a find in the wild.
Well, I can now mark that off the list.
I found this beautiful Black Crackle Zippo in a local antique store for the whopping price of $4.
The WW2 Black Crackle Zippo is what really put Zippo on the map to being the BEST windproof lighter. Roughly 10 million Zippos were produced in WW2 specifically for U.S. Troops. There were no Zippos produced for the private sector between 1942-1945.
Prior to 1942 Zippo made their lighters out of chrome plated brass. Between 1942-1945 they were made out of steel. To prevent the Zippo from shining and to protect against weathering, Zippo developed a lead base paint to conceal and protect the lighter. When baked, the lead based paint developed a rough texture making it appear that the paint was "crackling". Hence the finish name to be called "Black Crackle".
Between 1942-1945 there are several different variations of the Black Crackle Zippo.
In 1942, Zippos were made with a 4 barrel hinge and the insert was not stamped "ZIPPO".
There are also some patent errors, and stamp errors that were made during this time.
In 1943, Zippo switch to a 3 barrel hinge with a stamped insert.
During WW2 Soldiers customized their WW2 Zippos putting coins, their unit, and in some cases repainting their Zippos (red & blue crackles).
Regardless of all the semantics that run parallel to Zippo History on all the different parts, finishes or patent numbers, this is just another beautiful piece of history that I am thankful to have in my collection now. I hope to pass this piece and the history it carries to future generations.
I am no "expert" or claim to be on WW2 Zippos, the knowledge that I have accumulated for this topic has been by the following reliable sources:
George K. (WW2 Zippo expert who has over 200 WW2 Zippos.)
"Great American Lighter" by David Poore
"An American Legend" Avi R. Baer/ Alexander Neumark
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Hey Everyone,
My name is JRO Lights and I have been collecting Zippos for over 10 years. My collecting themes include: limited editions, Collectibles of the years, and any unique/ special designs.
I am not a film expert or editor, however I have a passion for Zippos and I hope to bring a variety and diverse range of Zippo information.
My mission is to bring knowledge to both new collectors and more seasoned collectors, and also bring more knowledge to myself.
Feel free to email me at jrolights@gmail.com for questions, suggestions or anything else.
#zippo #lighter #WW2 #blackcrackle #WorldWar2 #jrolights - Hry
Very awesome find!!! Definitely cannot beat the price either!!! Great video!
Couldn’t get out the door fast enough!
I would definitely have felt the same way, lol. The name you gave it is great as well.
I am still inpressed you managed to keep a straight face at the check out Jon!! Thats an awesome find and price!! I was amazed at the fact the other 2 were $10 each. All you would have heard from the car park after you had paid for them was a very loud WHOO HOO if that was me to be honest!! Knowing what you are looking at is one of the best most important parts of collecting in the wild as well!! Well done my friend!!
Great find! Gotta love those “general junk” Zippos!
Figuring out a good way to display “General Junk” with its receipt lol
Cool Zippo JRO!✌️
🔥🔥🔥
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It’s not everyday you find something like this in the wild.
What has been your BEST “In the Wild” find?
Amazing find! Here in the Netherlands it's even hard to just find a modern chrome in antique shops😂
Yeah overseas is a whole different ball game.
Surprisingly in the southern US is pretty hard to find in the wild finds, but not as hard as y’all lol.
@@JRO_Lights 😂
Amazing find Jon! If you find any more at that price I'll take one!😆
Lol it took me 15 years to find one at that price, I’ll hit you up in another 15 😂
A 4 barrel 42 for $4. Should have come with a 4 leaf clover.
I like to call the original Black Crackle finish as looking like a fingerprint, while all modern "crackle" paint has more of a pebble-like appearance, like truck bed liner spray. While not common, I think at least one reseller has figured out the secret sauce for how to replicate this on restorations, which is rather concerning if true.
Interesting detail, the cam *may* have been a factory replacement when they were still doing such things. The cam profile and type are that of later models, 1947 and newer. Is it possible that it came with it right from the start? Maybe, but I don't have any good evidence that it did but a ton of data that it didn't. Not trying to throw any kind of shade, even at $40 that thing would have been an absolute steal. Heck, even at $100 it's a solid buy and I'm sure you know how much these go for on ebay.
I don't have a good answer for when Zippo stopped doing insert repairs, maybe someone like Rob G would know, or there's easily referenced info somewhere, but based on what I've observed it seems like a year or two post-war. Hopefully I can have some of these questions answered during my July visit around Lighterpalooza.
One last detail worth noting. A couple of years ago I had some concerns regarding the paint and whether it was lead based. So I bought a lead testing kit and the several WW2 crackle paints I tested all came out negative. Just as a sanity check I even re-did my test minutes ago on three, all came out negative again. I even tested the lead swabs on a block of pure lead and a previously cleaned spent brass case and both immediately tested positive. Anyway at least with my original Black Crackles, it doesn't seem there's any appreciable levels of lead in them. But we're talking about the 40's during the war where perhaps safety and consistency may have taken a back seat to speed of production, so who knows. So it's probably not a bad idea to have a kit around you can test with and also have some known lead contaminated items for test confirmation.
That’s some good additional details and information (as always!)
I’ll have to look into the cam and cam spring on this one, nothing stood out to me or appears to have been replaced.
I would say lead based paint is one of those conflicting pieces of information. some sources says yes, other sources aren’t sure.
That’s interesting to know that you’ve tested it and it’s come back negative.
I was told that the lead served as the catalyst for the crackle finish. (I like your finger print example, it does more look like that then we bumpy texture the replicas give off)
Great feedback! Thanks!
@@JRO_Lights The cam spring is probably fine, but those little brass rods that they used to use for the cam pin tended to pop out of position fairly easily and I could totally see a cam getting lost because of it. So maybe it had been returned for service and it was easier for them to install a new cam than to provide a whole new insert. It's just that the cam profile and shape is not period correct to the best of my current understanding, it just stuck out to me immediately.
Negative for lead on the Black Crackles I own that I've tested, but no way to be sure on others. It's just safer to test all of them as I get them, but I don't exactly have a large enough sample size of Crackles unlike some other FB collectors.
So strange to see this can still happen these days. BTW: I learned at FB from a guy that works in the coating industry that a electro zinc coating is pretty durable, it should not com off easily on cleaning. Anyway, I would not clean these either.
I know I’m surprised it happened to me!
That’s good to know.
I think there are extremely rare cases I would consider cleaning the insert, but not in this case.
Great info Jon, great vid too, I certainly like when the Mrs. left the room so you can haggle over the black crackle Zippo, I think she might think you’ll spend next weeks housekeeping $$$ on it.😅😅😅but instead a lousy $4. Now don’t clean it leave it rusty as that show’s originality.
Now where’s that JRO Zippo so I can light a smoke and crack open another stubby??😂😂😂
You’re right It’s mainly she just doesn’t want to know how much we may need to reduce our grocery bill for the next week 😂
I actually have the JRO Lights Zippo on ebay or give me a shout at my email and I’ll hook ya up!
@@JRO_Lights, my Friend, I already have one.🔥🔥🔥
Unreal score! .........hate you😂
Yea…. No more complaining about my lack of luck anymore
Whoa lucky you
You gotta stop its oxidation first, right?
What do you think that general junk is worth today?