MR. JOHNSTON: Our inquiry about the identity of the man
photographed with Zippo founder George G. Blaisdell in a recent
edition of Portraits magazine has produced unanimous
results.[neWLine]

Kathy Comilla writes, “”The gentleman talking to Mr. Blaisdell
in the recent Portraits Magazine is my father, Al Smart Johnston.
They are standing in front of the former Johnston Store. I’m sure
of this, because I have a copy of the original
picture.””[neWLine]

Later, we had a phone call from Kathy’s sister, Roseanne
Conaway, who made the same positive identification.[neWLine]

Retired Zippo employee Gloria Hopkins came up with the same ID,
and noted that he was the owner of The Johnston Store, a popular
Main Street business for many decades.[neWLine]

We also heard from Marcia Daly McAndrew who also recognized Al
Smart Johnston and told us he had owned the Johnston Store, located
at 51 Main St., with his brother Robert.[neWLine]

[neWLine]

MORE ZIPPO: Patricia Mealey writes, “”With all the sightings of
Zippo I will pass along thoughts of Jack Clark who was the artist
for Zippo for many years. I have an air brush painting done by him
in 1950. It hung in our cottage at the lake for many years and now
hangs on our walls in Venice, Fla. Just another person that helped
make Zippo great.””[neWLine]

And Tom Ewell passes along another nugget about the legendary
Blaisdell largesse: “”Another long-forgotten item about the
Blaisdell family – I believe that the Blaisdell Foundation
purchased ambulances for years that were run by the City Fire
Department. Try to find another corporation or foundation then, and
especially in these days, that would do something on that
order.””[neWLine]

[neWLine]

GENARO ARMAS: Our Zippo sightings in various newspapers have
lasted longer than the Zippo/Case swap meet itself – and we know
why.[neWLine]

Lola Schneider had sent along not just a letter about spying the
Zippo name in her local newspaper, but also the clipping itself
from the Daytona Beach (Fla.) News Journal.[neWLine]

The article is an Associated Press report written by Genaro
Armas, the AP correspondent in State College. We had met with
Genaro just before he set off for Zippo-land to interview visitors
at the Swap for a feature story.[neWLine]

His report obviously moved on the national wire and, thus, has
been circulated widely throughout the country. No doubt, we’ll be
getting quite a few clippings before it’s all over.