Offered for your consideration is a vintage ZIPPO lighter. This classic, full-size ZIPPO features a brushed chrome finish case with tastefully polished side and end panels. The two forward-slash marks on each side of the bottom, // //, indicates that this lighter was USA-manufactured in 1978.

It features a gift inscription commemorating the recipient, Bob Johnson, for his service as a B-29 crew member in the 20th Air Force during the last two years of WWII. The 20th was tasked with bombing the Japanese mainland from air bases in India and later the Pacific, including the historic strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Please have a look at my large photos and read the remaining description to decide if this neat ZIPPO should join your collection.

This ZIPPO is in relatively clean, good condition. There are no prominent dents or scratches, just several very small dings primarily at the edges/corners, as pictured. Besides that, it has just the typical light nicks and scuffs from use over the years. No wear-through of the chrome was noted, and the narrow edge panels still have good shine.

Plus, the hinge is in fairly good order but does have sideways play or wiggle when the snuffer is open. And the halves line up well, but not perfectly, with the snuffer resting a smidge forward, so it could use a new hinge pin.

Also, the wordy gift inscription is in nice shape and fully legible. But it looks like the gift giver’s name at very bottom was not fully impressed and the job was “finished” with a scribe or nail on a few letters, as pictured.  Still, the lighter presents quite well overall.

The lighter works great now, but wasn’t working at all when it came into my possession. I had to perform some minor servicing to get it ready for action.  As is typical for a wick lighter that was dormant for many years, the flint had decayed into an impervious mortar blocking the channel.

Accordingly, I carefully cleared the flint tube of the stubborn, rock-hard debris with a small flat-blade screwdriver, which takes a while to get done, and then installed a fresh flint to verify strong spark. Next, I pulled the wick up by a few mm with hemostats and snipped the overly frayed end. Then I gave it a sparse fill with lighter fluid. It fired up right away, and works nicely, reliably once again as shown below.

So, as pictured and described, this ZIPPO lighter commemorating a flier's WWII service on the iconic B-29 is offered at a competitive price.

I encourage interested parties to ask any questions they may have about this listing before committing to purchase. Payment is due at checkout by PayPal or other accepted methods. U.S. mailing addresses will pay $5.95 for very carefully packed shipping via U.S. Postal Service with tracking and delivery confirmation. International purchases accepted only from those who are able to pay with PayPal, including shipping by U.S. Postal Service Global First Class Parcel Air Mail.

Thanks for looking!