Utility lighter

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Utility lighters were called the mechanical lighters manufactured in Great Britain from 1941 onwards during World War II .

Due to the shortage of metal and the lack of matches (due to the isolated location of the country) a decree was issued by the British government in 1941 that mechanical lighters could not contain more than 3/4 ounces of brass and with the letters UL (Utility Lighter ) had to be marked. These lighters could not cost more than 5 shillings and export was prohibited.

Well-known British manufacturers such as Alfred Dunhill, Ltd. , Benlow and Colibri had to switch their lighter production to other materials, such as aluminum or Bakelite . Curious relics of this time are the cartridge cases of large-caliber on-board guns converted into lighter, comparable to the Austrian IMCO models.

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  • Daily Telegraph , 1941 AS Hoskin - Secretary of the Board of Trade
  • Joop Bromet: Fascinating lighters , Verlag Hermann Schmidt, Mainz 1995, ISBN 3-87439-341-0