so for a second or 2 I thought I found something

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contender

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"his response was, "So it's super-rare but nobody cares!"

Funny. But two things come to mind. (1) Collectors DO care & (2) they will pay more money for it. But still funny.


"What I don't get is how anyone could confuse the two."

The OP said "for a second or two." As a collector,, I too had a moments pause before I realized it was totally different. But we see so few of the Ruger ones,, we can easily get crossed up on the details until we slow down & look.
 
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... Everybody has their likes & dislikes!

Definitely true! Just over 20 years ago, a little company called Cavalry Arms started making polymer AR15 lowers with integrated butt stocks & pistol grips. Unlike most polymer lowers, they're almost indestructable. I bought my first one directly from ArmaLite, who had contracted with Cav Arms to do a run of 1,000 with the Eagle Arms/ArmaLite name on them. I discovered I really like them - in fact, they're my favorite "modern sporting rifle" receiver! But that's definitely not true for everybody; I was trading one to a local FFL back during the 'Wu Flu', and he said (and I quote) that "polymer lowers make my skin crawl!"

To each his own!
:)
 

chet15

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Without provenance like the thief getting a picture of Bill Ruger using it and then actually stealing it then it's just another novelty lighter.
Except Ruger is actually known to have ordered these about 1960 or so and passed them out amongst his close friends.
Zippo lighters also have a code on them that tells when a particular lighter was produced.
Chet15
 

chet15

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I think this one might be rarer than the Bill Ruger ones.

View attachment 18306

I bought the contents of Bill Ruger's old rolltop desk and that was part of it.

Jack's given name was Oliver, I'm not sure how he ended up going by Jack, but he was VP of Savage Arms. Jack and Bill were good friends, I'm not sure which one imitated the other with these lighters.
I didn't know you snagged that!!!
Or maybe I did and have forgotten. Believe that exact piece is pictured in "Ruger & His Guns".
Chet15
 

weaselmeatgravy

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Remember though that one of Bill Ruger's qualities was incredible frugality. So his lighters were not even Zippos, probably because a batch of Zippos would have ended up costing him a dollar more than the knock-off brand. So his were made by Price Associates according to the flyer in the box.

Robbed-From-WBR-box.jpg


On the bottom of the lighter where a "Zippo" should be stamped, it is just blank.

I can't recall whether the Jack Knode lighter is a Zippo but I think it may be. It is in a curved glass display case that is always problematic to get into because you can only access it from the back which is up against a wall, so you have to pull it out and whenever I do that a bunch of stuff falls over. That case has all the WBR desk stuff in it. Before I got married, that case sat out on the dining room table, but my wife had other ideas so now it is back in the office on top of a bookcase. This is the case (with a lot of glare), and you can see the lighter standing up, right of center:

1679510585569.png


The Lucite block in the back on the right was WBR's own NYSE commemorative certificate from when RGR went public in 1993, underwritten by A.G. Edwards. 1.75 million shares priced at $22.50/share = $39,375,000. The woodgrain box in the back center is what the Lucite stock trophy came in and it has a white sticker on it with Bill's name, since several other executives received similar blocks.

Lucite-Stock-Cert-Box.jpg


Just left of center in the case is Bill's New Hampshire driver's license.

Behind the driver's license is an ivory colored thing that looks like a spool and it contains a roll of developed negatives. When You unroll the film a little, you can see a picture of a small ragtop sports car with the license plate "GUNS" and a woman who did not appear to be Bill's wife. When I posted that info years ago, WBR Jr. contacted me and was very interested to get a set of prints from that roll of film, but he never sent me the money to pay for it, so I never had the prints made, and now he's gone too.

The light blue box in the center with tissue paper coming out of it is a box of WBR business cards printed by Tiffany's. They simply say:

William Batterman Ruger
President
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.
Southport, Connecticut

In fancy calligraphy script. I guess they would be more appropriately referred to as calling cards since there is no contact info.
 

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Remember though that one of Bill Ruger's qualities was incredible frugality. So his lighters were not even Zippos, probably because a batch of Zippos would have ended up costing him a dollar more than the knock-off brand. So his were made by Price Associates according to the flyer in the box.

View attachment 18588

On the bottom of the lighter where a "Zippo" should be stamped, it is just blank.

I can't recall whether the Jack Knode lighter is a Zippo but I think it may be. It is in a curved glass display case that is always problematic to get into because you can only access it from the back which is up against a wall, so you have to pull it out and whenever I do that a bunch of stuff falls over. That case has all the WBR desk stuff in it. Before I got married, that case sat out on the dining room table, but my wife had other ideas so now it is back in the office on top of a bookcase. This is the case (with a lot of glare), and you can see the lighter standing up, right of center:

View attachment 18592

The Lucite block in the back on the right was WBR's own NYSE commemorative certificate from when RGR went public in 1993, underwritten by A.G. Edwards. 1.75 million shares priced at $22.50/share = $39,375,000. The woodgrain box in the back center is what the Lucite stock trophy came in and it has a white sticker on it with Bill's name, since several other executives received similar blocks.

View attachment 18591

Just left of center in the case is Bill's New Hampshire driver's license.

Behind the driver's license is an ivory colored thing that looks like a spool and it contains a roll of developed negatives. When You unroll the film a little, you can see a picture of a small ragtop sports car with the license plate "GUNS" and a woman who did not appear to be Bill's wife. When I posted that info years ago, WBR Jr. contacted me and was very interested to get a set of prints from that roll of film, but he never sent me the money to pay for it, so I never had the prints made, and now he's gone too.

The light blue box in the center with tissue paper coming out of it is a box of WBR business cards printed by Tiffany's. They simply say:

William Batterman Ruger
President
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.
Southport, Connecticut

In fancy calligraphy script. I guess they would be more appropriately referred to as calling cards since there is no contact info.
If only you had a bigger case .....I know where there some other goodies that would display nicely ;)
 
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While I do collect Zippos, my true preference is in promotional ashtrays. Not only are a loot of them just very cool looking, but since smoking is banned in most public indoor spaces they are becoming harder to find- at least those that are more unique.
 

weaselmeatgravy

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I went in and looked again and I can see the first few letters of the marking and it appears to be a STANLEY YANKEE as I can see "STA" on one line and "YAN" below that. Below that is the start of what I assume is "MADE IN U.S.A."

At first that made me think it was much newer that the Ruger Corp. tool company. But then I googled when Stanley bought Yankee and it came back with 1946 (actually, Yankee was a brand or style owned by North Brothers). So I guess it still could have been Bill's spark.

1679684182434.png


1679684399813.png
 

T.A. WORKMAN

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MANSFIELD, OHIO USA
Bob,
Here's one NIB ! They put anyone's company logo or verbiage on them per order, and could be had blank.
I'll dig it out and check the dates. It's a neat piece from a vintage time of the old hand tools.
Terry

0T8CTY1h.jpg
 
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