Nimrod Lighters

Nimrod lighters are a family of petrol lighters for pipe smokers, launched in the mid-20th century by a metalworking company founded in Cincinnati. Their name, form, and working logic set them apart from the era's usual pocket lighters, and they remain today one of the well-known headings in tobacco-accessory collecting.

The Company Behind Them

The firm behind the product is an Ohio-based family company founded in 1908 as a screw and lathe-parts manufacturer, known over time under the names Ward Manufacturing, Ward-Nimrod, and Ashley F. Ward. Its core business was never tobacco products; the lighter was born as a side line of a workshop that made machine parts. This origin shows directly in the product: the body resembles a nut set on the middle of a bolt. The same name was later also used for the firm's camper-trailer line, so the "Nimrod" brand does not refer to the lighter alone.

Where the brand name comes from is not certain. Explanations in circulation include linking a lighter that won't blow out in the wind to the biblical hunter Nimrod, and a reference to the aircraft parts the company made during the war years; neither is documented.

Design and Models

The lighter's patent application was filed on May 17, 1946, and the document was granted on December 9, 1947, in the name of Ashley F. Ward, Jr. According to the patent text, a chimney sits at the middle of the body, perpendicular to the long axis; the wick extends from the fuel chamber into this chimney, and a sliding cover over it both closes the chimney and, when opened, raises its height. Because the cover's thickened section sits just below the mouth of the chamber, it prevents the rim of the pipe bowl from coming into direct contact with the flame and burning. The lighter is designed for one-handed use: pulling the two halves of the body apart spins the flint wheel and ignites the flame, with a stop preventing the halves from coming fully apart. The wheel can also be turned by hand while the body is open.

Alongside this first pipe-oriented model, a Commander type (also known as Admiral), whose inner body fit inside an outer shell, was produced. Because the same patent number was stamped onto this second model's case as well, it is not possible to trace exactly which year the design first appeared. Sales are reported to have reached around a million units a year in the 1960s.

Dating and Later Traces

Nimrod bodies carry neither a serial number nor a stamp indicating the year of manufacture; even when the case is forced open, no such mark appears on the inner parts either. This makes dating individual examples nearly impossible, and collectors are left to rely on the box, the promotional papers, and the wording of the patent stamp on the case. The fact that some contemporaries had a year code stamped on the base of the case makes this gap more visible by comparison. A similar problem is seen with pipe stampings; for details, see the pipe patents and registration records entry.

The design's influence did not stay confined to the original manufacturer. An application filed in 1987 in the name of FGM Enterprises, granted in 1988, documented a similar pipe lighter and also cited Ward's 1947 patent. Copies resembling Nimrod's first model were made by other firms in later years too; these can be told apart by details such as a hexagonal nut shape, an externally removable body, and, in one case, a compass added to one end. The pipe accessories entry offers further context on the lighter's place in pipe culture.