Deer images began to appear on Zippos in the early 1950's. The Sports Series' hunting, fishing and other outdoor themes became popular, and deer designs first appeared on the hand-painted Town & Country Zippos. Some of the Zippos on this page from the 1950's through the 70's have prototype designs as do the later deer Zippos on the next page
1953 Zippo with
a hand-painted Town & Country design of a 10
point buck head.
1959 Zippo with
a prototype of a leaping white-tailed deer.
1959 Town & Country Zippo
with a leaping deer.
1960 transitional Town & Country prototype
Zippo with a deer
leaping over a stump in the
snowy forest.
1967 Zippo with a Town & Country deer head.
1973 Zippo with prototype
buck
head design.
1976 Zippo with prototype
buck
head design.
Rare 1976 prototype Zippo with a
white-tailed deer in winter. The
reverse side was prepared for an engraving
which never happened.
1976 slim prototype Zippo with an
more abstract deer head design.
The three Zippos above are unique
prototypes.
These designs never went into
production. From
left to right: a 1977 on matte
finish case, a 1978
on a high polish case, and a 1978 on
a brass case.
The five above Zippos are dated
1971, 1972, 1976, 1977 and 1981 all
have a silkscreen image
of a deer with the bush and sky as
background. There are appear to be
prototypes as there
are slight differences between the impressions. The 1981 Zippo has the
name "Fred Kemick" engraved on the
reverse.
