192. Ronson Lighter Collection. The world-renowned brand name Ronson is derived from its owner and inventor, Louis V. Aronson. There was a time before disposable lighters that American-brand Ronson was as dominant as Coca-Cola and found in department stores, mom and pops, tobacco shops and newspaper stands and seen in magazines and on posters, in every city across America. Ronson lighters appeared more than all other lighters combined in movies from the 1930s (Humphrey Bogart lighting up in The Maltese Falcon) until the outbreak of World War II and on television during the 1950s-60s (Johnny Carson’s desktop usually had the round rosewood Ronson Varaflame “Oslo”) and thus, was the most popular and stylish lighter for over 20 years during the heyday of cigarette smoking, including the very fashionable Art Deco period in the 1930s. Today these lighters are highly sought after by collectors because they were exquisitely made using an amazing variety of unusual and innovative designs. This offering boasts over 200 lighters. There is a fantastic assortment of all lighter types Ronson produced using both lighter fluid and butane. These include strike lighters, pocket lighters, touch-tips, cigarette cases, combination cigarette cases with lighters and table lighters. Ronson was the first company to patent the one-motion “press and release” lighter in 1928 which revolutionized the industry and made Ronson world famous. All of these wick lighters starting in 1913 used lighter fluid with the last model made in 1966. However, starting in 1952, Ronson introduced another method of lighting a cigarette or cigar using butane gas instead of lighter fluid. The big advantage was that a butane lighter lasted close to a year before it needed to be re-filled. The definitive reference book on Ronson lighters is Ronson, the World’s Greatest Lighter: Wick Lighters, 1913-2000 by Urban K. Cummings (first published in 1992) in which 365 lighters were identified as being made by Ronson. An update last published in 2000 raised that number to 417. The following are highlights in the lot offered using the associated reference # used in the Ronson book: 

TOUCH-TIPS:
#181-Bartender-first mfg. 1936-2 cigarette compartments chromium plated and enameled in grain walnut effect. Black gun-metal base. Probably the most famous and coveted lighter from Ronson; #160-Octette-first mfg. 1935. Probably the best known of all Touch-Tips. Uncommon-rare; #185-Oval-first mfg. 1937. Streamlined lines, curved flint wheel box. Uncommon-rare; #208-Classic-first mfg. 1938.

STRIKER LIGHTERS:
#114-Tank World War I-first mfg. 1920.Tank replica in olive drab enamel. Ronson name is found at the bottom rear panel. Extremely rare; #112-Dog with pipe and vest-first mfg. 1920. Very rare; #128-Elephant-first mfg. 1935 Animal series all chrome plated; #129-Bear-first mfg. 1935; #130-Donkey-first mfg. 1935; #131-Bull-first mfg. 1935; #127-Bulldog-first mfg. 1935.

POCKET LIGHTERS:
#4 Wonderlighter Midget-first mfg. 1914. Marked “Wonderlighter Midget” on one side and “A.M.W. Newark, N.J.” on the other (A.M.W. stood for Art Metal Works, Aronson's name for his company before it was called Ronson). This was the fourth lighter issued by Ronson. Very rare; #5 Ronson Lighter-first mfg. 1919. The first model marked as a Ronson and is nickel-plated. Very rare; #17-Princess-first mfg. 1929. The longest lasting model that Ronson made for over 30 years with at least 78 different versions made. 

CASES & LIGHTER COMBINATIONS:
#77-Mastercase-first mfg. 1933. Held 14 regular size cigarettes - in production for over 20 years;
#78-Twentycase-first mfg. 1935. Held 20 cigarettes. Ronson’s first case/lighter combination to carry the cigarettes horizontally on both sides of the case; #79-Ten-A-Case-first mfg. 1935 and was the thinnest of any case; #93-Escort-first mfg. 1954. This was the last known cigarette case and wick lighter combination made by Ronson. 

TABLE LIGHTERS & OTHERS:
#278-Crown- & #283 -Queen Anne-first mfg. 1936. Best known of all Ronson table lighters with millions sold until the end of their heyday in the 1950s; #279 “Decanter” first mfg. 1936
#326-Fantasy-first mfg. 1954; Tabourette-servacig dispenser with jewel detail. First mfg. 1929; Robot-Liter-mfg. 1966, a dispenser of lighted cigarettes for the automobile or boat which operates on 12 volts. Holds 20 cigarettes. Very rare; Electric Shavers-Ronson in the 1950’s became one of the 3 top makers in the U.S. and England. A woman’s model, the “Lady Ronson” was also introduced. Both male and female shavers are included in this lot; the Ronson Repeater-toy pistol that “shoots and flashes” just like a real gun (1920s).

BUTANE:
Ronson’s first butane lighters all appeared in the time period of 1950-1952. There was one pocket model, “Maximus” and 5 table models called the "V" series: Viceroy, Vernon, Victor, Vera and Viola. All were fueled from a small compressed gas bottle called a Bu-Tank. The “Varaflame” pocket and table lighters added in the late 1950s revolutionized the butane lighter industry and pushed aside the wick models in popularity forever. All 7 of these lighters listed above are included in this lot. $6,000 - $8,000

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by Profiles in History
June 11, 2015 11:00 AM PDT
26662 Agoura Rd
Calabasas, CA, US 91302

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $49 $5
$50 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $249,999 $10,000
$250,000 + $25,000