The message is pretty clear – a vintage Zippo lighter is still a hot commodity.

This fact came to light last month when a person paid more than $11,000 for a vintage lighter in an auction on eBay. Zippo lighters have been produced in Bradford since 1933.The lighter, described as an "early square Zippo with external hinge," fetched $11,758.98 when the bidding was all said and done. The first bid came in at $10. But 42 bids later from 19 separate bidders raised the price 1,000 times the original bid in the weeklong auction.

The seemingly high price was a pleasant surprise to Zippo officials as well as auction observers and the man who sold the lighter."We are continually amazed that the value collectors place on Zippo lighters from the first year of production," said owner and chairman George Duke. "I know my grandfather would never believe it, especially since he sold the first Zippo lighters for about $2."

Duke is a grandson of George G. Blaisdell, who developed the Zippo as a windproof lighter built to withstand years of use."I was obviously quite excited when I saw that the Zippo had sold for that much money," said Brian Cunningham, who sold the lighter on consignment. "Both the owner and I knew that it was a good lighter but we didn't know that it was $11k good."

Cunningham, based on Orlando, Fla., said the previous owner had found it in his father's dresser where it had been for years and years.For some, the purchase of lighters for that amount of money in these hard economic times are amazing, too."It is also remarkable to see how the interest in Zippo lighter collecting continues to be strong in this uncertain economy," Duke added.

That point also rang true with James Massey, publisher of AuctionOddball.com, a free Web site that tracks top selling eBay items."Even in our current economy, it appears some collectible lighters are still in high demand. More than 40 (lighters) have fetched final (eBay selling) prices between $1,000 to $5,000 in the last 90 days."

There were about 25,000 Zippos made in the first year of production. According to Zippo historian Linda Meabon, less than 100 of those are known to exist today.One of those was sold for $37,000 in 2007 when officials released the original 1933 lighter from the Zippo archives during the company’s 75th anniversary auction.

During the company’s first public auction, Didier Karoubi, director of marketing of Zippo in France, gave the winning bid."Because it’s an original. There’s no value for this," Karoubi said of why he bid that amount shortly after placing the winning bid.

Zippo President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Booth added, "A ’33 lighter gone for $37,000. It has to spell success."The second highest price for a Zippo was $18,000 and was paid at the 2001 Zippo Tokyo Swap Meet.

Massey said that people wanting to sell their prized Zippos can do so easily on the Web."Many times, the owners of rare collectibles are not professional collectors. So having no idea of their item’s value, they end up selling it for pennies on the dollar in a garage or yard sale.

"It’s a real shame, because today it’s so easy to get a general sense of market value for most items. It usually only takes a few minutes using free online sites."At Zippo, there are plenty of newer lighters to go around.

Zippo reached the production milestone of 1 million lighters in 1942. Later this year, the company is expected to make its 475 millionth lighter.

Currently, Zippo makes about 10 million lighters per year.

Big difference in the price of a lighter: Deana Johnson, left, of the Zippo packaging department displays a chrome lighter, while Zippo Historian, Linda Meabon shows one of the oldest lighters in Zippo's collection, a 1933 model. The lighter just off the Zippo assembly line will retail for 14.95. A vintage lighter like this 1933 model sold last month on EBay for over $11,000.

- Story Courtesy of the Bradford Era