The War Zippo of Hanoi
4 Comments Published by Joel November 10th, 2006 in Gadgets, Smoking. Share ThisReader “gergtreble” left this awesome comment in response to our Zippo Tricks post and I wanted to pluck it out and make sure you all saw it. (I tweaked it for spelling because I’m an anus.)
I traveled round the world (twice) with my old brass Marlboro Zippo. Never came close to losing it. I even had people running out of bars to give it back to me after I left it on a table in a drunken haze.Ironically, on my way home on the last trip, I purchased a shiny chrome Zippo to replace my (soon to be retired) old workhorse. I think I must have left it on the plane.
I also shelled out quite a large sum of dollars in Vietnam for (what I want to believe) is an original war Zippo. There are thousands of cheap fake Zippos being sold on the streets of Hanoi and HCM City. But this one was locked away in a display case at the back of a Hanoi gift shop in the French Quarter. When I asked how much she wanted for it she told me $100! I laughed at her and told her she was ripping me off. She told me it was real. But I walked out.
5 days later I went back into the store (after completing a grueling trek in the highlands) and bartered her down to $50.
It has the legend “If you want to make love, smile when you hand me this lighter back” carved onto the back. I thought no Vietnamese forger would come up with that!!
What, no picture?
(of the Vietnamese woman)
yes. We need a picture. I’m thinking of a producing a replica. It made me smile.
a lot of these are fake, this site has some info.
http://perso.orange.fr/zippo.vietnam/fake.htm
Wow!
I got featured. Cool!
And Scott, Ive got about five of those ones, they are cheap assed copies with damn bad engraving on it! Picked up about 10 of them as presents for buddies back home.
One of whom lost his at a local Jazz festival. Imagine my surprise the next week when I see my buddys zippo on the front page of the local Newspaper. Aparently someone had found it and had contacted the paper thinking it may have been lost by a real Vet! By the way I live in the North West of the UK we dont get that many Vietnam Vets around here. I took great delight in turning up at the paper and reciting the verse on the back they demanded as proff of ownership. “When I die I will surely go to heaven as I have spent my time in Hell”. They never printed a retraction
Ill get a picture up in the moring when I get home.