IMPORTANT: Always call the business before going to take the factory tour. We try and keep our data s up-to-date as possible but you should always check first.

Company
Zippo Visitior Center
1932 Zippo Drive, Bradford, PA   16701
Latitude: 41.951382   Longitude: -78.669115
http://www.zippo.com/main.aspx
This tour is free
This is a visitor center only, no actual factory tour.

Description
Zippo Manufacturing Company, maker of the world famous windproof lighter with the lifetime guarantee, celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2007. Based in Bradford, Pennsylvania and distributed in more than 152 countries worldwide, Zippo is synonymous with American made quality and craftsmanship.

HISTORY
Zippo was founded in Bradford, Pennsylvania in 1932 when George G. Blaisdell decided to create a lighter that would look good and be easy to use. Blaisdell obtained the rights for an Austrian windproof lighter with a removable top, and re-designed it to his own specifications. He made the case rectangular and attached the lid to the bottom with a welded hinge, then surrounded the wick with a chimney. Blaisdell called his new lighter ?Zippo,? a name he created from the word ?zipper? because he liked the sound of the word. From the very beginning he backed the Zippo lighter with a lifetime guarantee that ?it works or we fix it freeTM?.

TODAY
Zippo has produced over 450 million windproof lighters since its founding in 1932. Except for improvements in the flint wheel and modifications in case finishes, Blaisdell?s original design remains virtually unchanged today.

Although the windproof lighter remains the most popular Zippo product, the line also includes the refillable butane Zippo MPL® (multi-purpose lighter), mini MPL®, and OULTM outdoor utility lighter. A line of ZippoBLU® premium butane gas lighters was introduced late in 2007.

Zippo windproof lighters enjoy a widespread and enviable reputation as valuable collectibles throughout the world. Zippo Click, the Zippo-sponsored collectors club, boasts more than 12,000 registered members in over 50 countries. In addition, there are more than fifteen independent lighter collector clubs serving thousands of Zippo lighter collectors worldwide.

Hours
Open Monday ? Saturday 9 am ? 5 pm; Thursday 9 am ? 7 pm; Sunday 11 am ? 4 pm.

Closed Major Holidays

*The Zippo/Case Visitors Center is open on Sundays (June ? Christmas)
from Noon to 4 pm.

Other Information
Since its opening in 1997, the Zippo/Case Visitors Center has attracted thousands of visitors from over 150 countries around the world. Step through history and trace two beloved American icons, the Zippo lighter and Case knives.

The Zippo/Case Visitors Center is located at 1932 Zippo Drive, just off Route 219 in Bradford, PA. Fourteen custom-made Zippo "street-lighters" line the drive leading up to the building. Over the entrance towers a 40-foot Zippo lighter with a pulsating neon flame, and an enormous three-bladed Canoe pocketknife, symbol of the Case Collector's Club.