GAS PAIN: Wow, how about this? Jim Gotshall tells us gas prices
Tuesday in Port Allegany were $2.99 – more than in Bradford. Our
prices were “only” in the $2.92-$2.93 range. Who would have thought
we’d ever consider $2.92 for a gallon of gasoline “cheap”? Guess
it’s all relative.

ZIPPO NOTES: The activity surrounding Zippo Manufacturing Co. as
part of last weekend’s Zippo/Case swap meet has generated some
publicity in other newspapers and feedback from former
residents.

Jean Gould Cameron writes, “I don’t know what draws me back to
my hometown since I moved to San Antonio, Texas, in 1982, but I
still have wonderful memories of growing up in Bradford and get
‘warm fuzzies’ everytime I read the Era online.”

“I worked at Zippo Manufacturing in 1955-56 and I remember Mr.
Blaisdell walking through the office every day and speaking to each
employee.

“He even gave me a gold-plated lighter which had been
mis-engraved and happened to be my initials. If he was away Howard
Yates came by to say hello. Often both of them came together.”

She also has a question: “I just received my copy of Portraits,
the University of Pittsburgh publication, and there is a picture of
Mr. Blaisdell talking to a fellow Bradfordian. The man looks a lot
like my dad, Carroll J. Gould. Everyone called him C.J. Can anyone
identify the man in the picture?”

Alice Razzano passed along a Zippo sighting in her daily
newspaper, the Star News in Wilmington, N.C. The paper has a
regular feature where questions are submitted and then answered,
and that’s where Zippo got into print.

The question was, “I’ve noticed that many old-time films, even
those made as far back as the 1930s, show actors lighting
cigarettes with Zippo lighters. When were they invented and by
whom?”

“Answer: George Blaisdell is credited with inventing the Zippo
lighter in 1932 although he developed it after obtaining the rights
to an Austrian lighter with a windproof top. Blaisdell of Bradford,
Pa., redesigned the Austrian model to his own specifications and
requirements. Fascinated with another recent invention, the zipper,
he called his new lighter ‘Zippo.'”

A couple readers also heard the word Zippo on a program over the
weekend on the Travel Channel. The show was featuring innovations
in barbecue grilling – and, of course, mentioned Zippo’s
multi-purpose lighters.

More “sightings” tomorrow.