Blog by Steve Laug

Not too long ago I was scrolling through the Gentlemen’s Pipe Smoking Society on Facebook on a lunch break and came across a post on Nimrod Pipe Lighters. The poster included a lot of sales brochures and booklets that showed how to use and care for the lighter. The first poster caught my eye because the gold coloured Nimrod in the ad was identical to the one that I have in my pipe cabinet. The post made me want to read further and copy the link and the pictures and leaflets that were posted. Here is the ad that caught my eye.When I got home from work I took my lighter out of the pipe cabinet and took a good long look at it. It is a lighter that I had not used for a long time. It is one I have not even spent time with for quite a while. It really is a nice accessory and one that is pleasing to the eye. While I looked at it I tried to remember how it ended up in my hands. I think it may have been a gift to me from a pipe man name Daryl in Washington. Over the years we sent each other tobacco and pipes. I did a few repairs for him and visited him in his home. We shared some bowls and stories together. The more I think about it the more am certain that it came from him. One day out of the blue he sent the lighter. He said that he had several and thought of me and sent it my way. It is a nice pipe accessory and make a great addition to my pipe lighters. It is gold/polished brass in colour with a brown vinyl lizard skin covering on the bottom half of the lighter. I took some photos of the lighter from various angles and sides to capture the uniqueness of the Nimrod.  The top of the lighter has a slotted screw that when unscrewed hold the flint. On the right or left side there is a striker wheel that when spun with the thumb against the flint produced a spark that ignited the wick in the other end of the barrel. The wick sat in a reservoir of lighter fluid so it ignited when the flame caught it. On the underside of the lighter the stamping is faint but in a bright light it reads NIMROD ® PIPELITER Made in the USA.There was great photo of the lighter with the flame captured. It is the same lighter I have and the look is the same.Going through the various sales brochures and inserts I could see that the one I had was labeled as a Nimrod Executive NO. 900E. It was described as having a gold anodized finish and vinyl lizard grip. I have circled it in red below.Mine is a top of the line lighter. There was also another model that I have had and passed on to others called a Sportsman. The person who posted on Facebook also included a display of this line of Nimrod lighter. I love the advertising on the card – America’s Favorite Pipeliter. At $4.95 and an unconditional guarantee with never a charge for repairs it was a great deal.The patent on the pipe was filed on May 17, 1946 by A.F. Ward Jr. and the patent was granted on December 9, 1947. The patent number is 2,432,265.Included in the post were two instructional brochures on the Use, Care and Feeding of Your Nimrod. I expect that these were in the boxes the lighters came in originally. When I received my lighter it did not include the instructions. However, the lighter was pretty self-explanatory. Now that I have read over these pamphlets and instructions I am even more interested than ever to refill the lighter fluid and start to use the lighter again. I love reading these old pieces of tobacciana that take me back to an earlier simpler time. Enjoy reading these documents.