[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 122 (Friday, July 27, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H8746]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             CONGRATULATING ZIPPO ON THEIR 75TH ANNIVERSARY

  (Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, it is a cause for 
celebration in the Fifth District of Pennsylvania today. This year 
marks the 75th anniversary of an American icon, Zippo lighters. In 1932 
George Blaisdell developed the first Zippo lighter in a garage in 
Bradford, Pennsylvania.
  Today, though most products are disposable or available with limited 
warranties, the Zippo lighter is still backed by its famous lifetime 
guarantee: ``It works or we fix it for free.'' A motto of a company 
that truly believes in its great product.
  In almost 75 years and nearly 450 million lighters later, where last 
year alone 50,000 lighters a day were produced in Bradford, 
Pennsylvania, Zippo lighters are a legacy of good business, and almost 
70 percent of them are exported all around the world.
  Today George Duke, Mr. Blaisdell's grandson, owns the company and is 
chairman of the board. Gregory Booth is Zippo's president and CEO. I 
know them both and appreciate their resolve to keep Zippo lighters 
manufactured in America and, more importantly, in Bradford, 
Pennsylvania.
  I commend them for their devotion to the people of Bradford and 
congratulate Zippo and the Zippo family for 75 years of great business.

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