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Grandma's Zippo (aka How do you light your egg?)

This is NOT weed burner vs. Map Torch vs. starter cubes...

I just dug up the Zippo Lighter I got from my grandmother when she passed away in 1997 at the age of 85. It had been deep in a drawer for nearly 18 years.

I put a new wick and flint in it, filled it with fluid, and it will now be my source of fire for cooks going forward.  (i'm in the oil soaked paper towel camp)

She lit tens of thousands of cigarettes with this thing. I hope I get that many good cooks.


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1 LBGE in Chapel Hill, NC

Comments

  • Justacookin
    Justacookin Posts: 291

    Good memories are what we have to life by sounds like you will be putting it to a better life, have fun cooking with it. 

    XL & waiting for my Mini Max Bloomington MN.
  • That is awesome! Enjoy the memories every time u fire up the egg.
  • DaveRichardson
    DaveRichardson Posts: 2,324
    I've got my grandfathers Zippo from his time in WWII. It stays at my desk with some other Olympic stuff from 1996 in Atlanta. I use my new Zippo and oil towel technique for low and slow most of the time, but when cooking for family, granddad's old Zippo is the only lighter I'll use. Some things are for family only.

    Great to see someone else with a Zippo story!!!

    LBGE #19 from North GA Eggfest, 2014

    Stockbridge, GA - just south of Atlanta where we are covered up in Zombies!  #TheWalkingDead films practically next door!

  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    Thanks for sharing. When I get home I am going to did out my Dads and use it to light my weed burner. Very good idea. He carried it in WWII. Thanks once more.
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • DaveRichardson
    DaveRichardson Posts: 2,324
    I think it's cool that you can run to walmart and get a pack of flints and you are good to go as it was brand new 70+ years ago.

    Now if we can get our hands on a BGE Zippo......

    LBGE #19 from North GA Eggfest, 2014

    Stockbridge, GA - just south of Atlanta where we are covered up in Zombies!  #TheWalkingDead films practically next door!

  • hapster
    hapster Posts: 7,503
    Funny... I was thinking about my father's gold Zippo my mom gave him on their first Christmas they were married, along with his Rolex. 1966... And they both still work like a charm.

    Enjoy the memories. Thanks for sharing.
  • AD18
    AD18 Posts: 209
    What a wonderful rememberance.  I have little things around the house that were my dad's and smile each time I use them.  Same as some of my mom's cooking stuff.  He wasn't around anymore when I got my Egg, I actually used some of my inheritance when he passed to buy it, but I'm sure he would have loved it.  Thanks for passing along your experience, I smiled:) 
    Large BGE, Weber 22.5 kettle, Weber Genesis
    Cobourg, Ontario
  • WeberWho
    WeberWho Posts: 11,008
    I just bought a Zippo from Walmart a few weeks ago to light my weed torch. It caught my eye when checking out. I always thought
    lower end Zippo's were $30+ but this one was $9.99. Had to buy it just to see if the price was right. Works great!
    "The pig is an amazing animal. You feed a pig an apple and it makes bacon. Let's see Michael Phelps do that" - Jim Gaffigan

    Minnesota
  • bettysnephew
    bettysnephew Posts: 1,188
    I got my Dad a 40th Anniversary Zippo D Day lighter and gave it to him on his birthday in June of that year.  He started crying when he opened the tin it came in.  He said he had carried one through the war to light his ever present cigars.  He said he had lost it sometime in the 1950's.  He was a Combat Engineer and was on first wave at Omaha Beach.  He had quit smoking some years before, but always carried a cigar in his shirt pocket in one of those glass tubes.  He never got that one out and lit it,  I think it was like an afirmation for him to prove he didn't have to smoke it.  He carried the Zippo and the cigar until the day he passed away.  It is one of my prized possesions.
    A poor widows son.
    See der Rabbits, Iowa
  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
    Back in the day, when I smoked, I could snap my fingers w/ my Zippo flick it open and light it all in the same motion. And the Zippo guys know what I'm talking about.
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
  • stemc33
    stemc33 Posts: 3,567
    Great stories \m/ . I never smoked, but I remember being a kid thinking that lighting trick @NPHuskerFL‌ is talking about was cool.
    Steven
    Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter, 
    two cotton pot holders to handle PS
    Banner, Wyoming
  • Great idea, keep the memories going
  • PNWFoodie
    PNWFoodie Posts: 1,046
    Thank you for sharing this. It touched my heart.
    XL, JR, and more accessories than anyone would ever need near Olympia, WA
    Sandy