The first vehicles to appear as advertising on on the Zippo lighter was in the 1940's after World War II, beginning with local Pennsylvania truck companies. Zippos were often used by transportation companies and truck manufacturers through the 1970's for advertising until anti-smoking attitudes made such lighters less "politically correct". However, cool truck designs can be found on more recent Zippos produced for collectors like the 1991 Zippo Truck Series shown below.
1946-47 line-drawn Zippo of a "New
Penn" truck. This design is one of
the earliest truck images on a Zippo
1947-49 Zippo for Phila.-Pitts.
Carriers with offices in
Pittsburgh, Erie, and New
Castle, Pennsylvania.
1949-50 Zippo for Hare Cartage Co.
Inc. - "Gets it There -
Safer-Faster"
1952-53 Zippo for Dixie Highway
Express, Inc. of Meridian, Miss.
Early line-drawn Zippo filled with
red
1953 Zippo with a Brandt's
tanker truck, Bloomington
Illinois.
1959 Zippo with cement truck
for Dunkirk Ready-
Mix Concrete Corp. Dunkirk,
NY.
1959 Zippo for Concrete Mix
Inc. with truck
"Transit-Mixed", Hutchinson,
Kansas.
1961 Zippo for Mt. Vernon
Truck
Body Co. of Mt Vernon &
Utbana, Illinois. Belonged
to Gail Denny.
1962 tanker truck Zippo
advertising John Schutt, Jr.
Inc.
1962 Zippo with tanker truck
-
The Shelly Co.
1968 Zippo with an Inland
Express tractor trailer.
1970 Zippo with attached
badge
with Mack's bulldog logo.
Made
for the Robinson Service &
Equip. Inc., New Castle,
Pa. Mack Trucks, Inc. was
founded in 1900 by Jack
and Gus Mack in Brooklyn, NY.
1970's Barcroft Model IV
table lighter with attached
Mac logo. The bulldog
became associated with Mack
during WWI when English
soldiers began calling them
"Bulldog Macks".
1971 Zippo depicting a
U-Haul truck and trailer for
"rentals".
1973 Zippo with a truck
trailer combination.
1973 Zippo with a System
truck trailer. "System
Service Satisfies" The
reverse reads "Thaonk you
for being an important part
of System Transfer & Storage
C. Success Story in Over 50
Years of Business"
1976 advertising Zippo for
American Red Ball World Wide
Movers.
Two-sided 1977 slim Zippo
for Tri-State Motor Transit
Co. of Joplin, Missouri.
Interesting three-color
design, with one side
showing the front of a
truck and the reverse side
showing the back.
`
1977 Zippo with a
tanker truck
advertising Cyrus
Truck Line Inc. "We
Sell Nothing Except
Service".
1978 truck trailer
for Continental Can
Company with an
American flag
design.
1978 Diesel Trucks -
Mercedes-Benz (date
error-no slashes on
left) first motor
truck was built in
1896 by the German
automotive pioneer
Gottlieb Daimler
1985 Zippo
with Jeep
and "Phillipines".
Three truck
cabs from
Zippo's 1991
American
Truck
Series.
An International on the left, a Kenworth in the middle and
a Peterbilt
on the
right.
