American Made: Zippo’s iconic lighters began in a small Pennsylvania town

(NewsNation) — The snap of the lid, the strike of the wheel and a flame have become a symbol of American manufacturing thanks to one company.

The Zippo legacy and factory all started in Bradford, Pennsylvania. In 1923, a man named George Blaisdell had an idea that was simple yet revolutionary.

He wanted to create a lighter that could be used with one hand, even in the wind.

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“An individual using the lighter could simply pull it out of his pocket, use one hand, open the lid and operate the lighter,” said George Duke, third-generation owner of Zippo Manufacturing Company. “That was really his idea about what Zippo should be.”

Now, three and four generations later, Duke and his son Grant run the company.

Inside the factory in Bradford, Operations Director Bucky Clark showed NewsNation how raw materials are stamped, shaped, polished and plated to make more than 40,000 lighters every day.

“Made in the USA is something my grandfather always wanted to have to say about a Zippo. We are made in the USA. He is very, very proud of that,” Duke said.

The name for the company came from the word zipper, a popular invention at the time Zippo was founded during the Great Depression.

“When my grandfather started Zippo in the 1930s, it was an almost impossible time to start a company,” Duke said. “There was an occasion or two when my grandfather could not pay his employees and he had to tell them that. And they said, ‘George, we understand you’re struggling. We’re all struggling.’ That stuck with my grandfather forever and ever and ever. Bradford is a part of Zippo as much as Zippo is a part of Bradford.”

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That loyalty became a part of the company’s DNA.

Generations of workers helped turn a small-town product into an American icon.

A decade after opening its doors, Zippo would become more than a lighter company. For American soldiers, Zippo became a piece of home.

“Most soldiers smoked. They had a Zippo. It was a reliable lighter. It worked all the time. It became a friend,” Duke said. “I’m sure when you’re sitting in a foxhole, and you’re going through what you’re going through or whatever you might be doing in the war, you have that little piece of metal that is with you. It’s from where you came from, the good old USA.”

More than 700 employees work in Bradford, where the company is privately run.

While its history is important, so is evolving the brand.

Zippo is an A-lister on the big screen, appearing in more than 2,000 movies, including “Apocalypse Now,” “Die Hard” and “Indiana Jones.”

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“It’s direct-to-consumer marketing with product placement. That’s pretty phenomenal,” said Brent Tyler, vice president of global marketing. “We like to think that the Zippo lighter helps transform the audience into the film because everybody’s familiar with the sight, the sound, the smell of a Zippo lighter.”

Tyler told NewsNation they hope the Zippo brand’s values come through on screen.

“We hope they think of the quality, the commitment to American manufacturing, the lifetime guarantee, and how we do a design for just about every person and every lifestyle interest out there,” Tyler said.

The challenge for any heritage brand is evolution.

Fewer Americans are smoking cigarettes, which for Zippo means expanding their product line to include candles, camping products and hand warmers.

It’s a business model built on durability and trust. It’s also one Zippo says will always be rooted in Bradford.

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“Every Zippo lighter has Bradford, Pennsylvania, on the bottom of it, and every Zippo lighter, as long as this family is involved with it, will always have Bradford, Pennsylvania, on the bottom of it,” Duke said.

As America approaches its 250th birthday, Zippo is preparing to celebrate its place in the country’s story.

From a Great Depression startup to a World War II essential to a global collectible still made in a small Pennsylvania town, a story for every person who has ever opened one of these lighters and heard that click, it’s a sound made in America.

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