Ronson Cigarette Lighter
Founded as Art Metal Works in Newark, New Jersey, company founder Louis V. Aronson won a worldwide competition for creating a safety match before turning his attention to building cigarette lighters. Ronson has produced many collectible lighters. Here is some information about the vintage lighters available from Ronson.
What is the first lighter made by Ronson?Ronson made its first lighter in 1913, under the name Art Metal Works, called the Wonderliter. This pocket cigarette lighter contains a metal wand with an asbestos filament on the end. The 2.25-inch-tall silver lighter has a flint on its bottom. The design is intended for users to strike the filament across the flint to create fire.
What are Ronson Touch Tip lighters?Touch Tip lighters were designed with a striker wand and wick holder. The lighter is designed for the user to remove the rod from its holder and touch the wand's tip to the igniter to produce a flame. Some Touch Tip designs have side pockets intended to hold cigarettes. Here are some of the Touch Tip designs:
- Miniature bar design
- Various animals holding or placed by an ashtray
- Pipe holder with a table lighter beside it
- Table lighter with a clock and calendar
- Automatic cigarette dispensers with a table lighter beside them
The Banjo is named after its shape and is one of the first automatic lighters. The Banjo was designed so that users pushed a button on the 2.25-inch silver lighter for it to produce a flame. The company created the lighter starting in 1926, and they continued to produce it for more than three years before replacing it with the De-lite lighter.
What is the Ronson De-lite lighter?For more than 20 years, Ronson offered their De-lite lighters, producing over 85 versions of them. The original ones say "PATD. OTHER PATS. PDG." on their bottoms. These lighters come in a variety of sizes with the smallest one standing about two inches high. Many De-lite Ronson lighters are wrapped in leather with a large silver oval on both sides.
Why are Ronson lighters collectors' items?Zippo currently owns and continues to produce Ronson lighters. However, the vintage Ronson lighters are collectors' items because they were produced and marketed during the 1900s. Lighters made in the 1900s are considered vintage and collectors' items because they were made with significant decorative detail.
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