I have both of my grandfathers' Zippos that they carried in WWII. One was bought in 1940 and was chromed brass, now it's more like brassed chrome. The other was bought in 1942 and is the three hinged variety. It's steel with almost no paint left on it.
This has got to be the most informative and valuable video on these WWII Zippos. Extremally valuable and helpful information. I have ordered a 1942 Black Crackle zippo in nice condition, but I am assuming it's a later 42 model, because it has the 4 barrel hinge, but has the shape of a 1943+
@@JRO_Lights Hey, I have a question. Do you know how many of these WWII Zippos were produced? I haven’t been able to get a solid answer anywhere. Many thanks
Geoge talks about 900000 1942 BC in this video and the total Black Crackle production I estimate at 5-7 million based on the fact that 1 million Zippo were produced by 1942 and 10 million by 1947.
I had heard that in Europe when Paratroopers were dropped in behind the lines, that in order make contact with other troops at night, that they would use the Zippo click to send and respond in order to rendezvous in isolated instances. I'd love to know if that was true. I had heard the British used a toy clicking frog for a similar purpose. You mentioned fuel supplies, I'd imagine replacement flints being even harder to acquire.
Thanks Brian, they actually used a device called a “cricket” it’s a small device that definitely sounds like a zippo click. The 70th anniversary of D-Day Zippo actually features a cricket. The usage of this device is featured in several WW2 movies, “The Longest Day” is one of those movies.
