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.