No 34. A packet of 8!

 

My next post, No 34,  deals with a genre that could be a collection in itself.   There are many varieties, styles and variations available, which, as well as being leg shaped all these eight legs are cigarette lighters.

 

This is a picture of the complete lighter collection, which prompts me to think I should produce  a similar photographic montage of the other genres of which I have good numbers, Button Hooks for example, knitting needle guards and of course Pipe Tampers.

The three large lighters at the back are obviously not portable, more likely to be table lighters which would sit on a coffee table to be used by anyone.  The large metal one in the centre is one of my largest legs (excluding walking canes) and together with the two similar leather boots, they are each operated by filling with petrol.

The remaining 5 have a valve in the base (apart from number 3) to facilitate filling with gas, and they are obviously of the size that a user could carry in a pocket or purse. They all spark, but being empty of gas they do not currently ignite.

I like the little leg at the front, coated in denim material (no feet!) which I have discussed previously, and cost just £2 at an antique fair at Kedleston hall, in 2016 and was in a damp box with a number of lighters. Just shows they don’t all have to be expensive to fit the collection, albeit it is of course not an antique.

These are the remaining lighters that I have not covered before.

                                  

This silver one came from a small Antique centre in Old Hunstanton in 2019 and was just £12. In silver coloured metal, it is designed as a lady’s leg, with quite a high heel and unusually, 5 well shaped toes. That tells me it is a right leg but It has no markings so there is nothing to provide any provenance.

 

 

The next two were bought together at an antique dealer in Bolsover in 2021, ten quid for the pair!!

                     

The bronze leg is quite heavy, with quite a bit of decoration; from the simulated zip on one side and the “buckle” on the other, this is a left leg. Once again no markings, maker or any history.

   

                               

I guess the plastic legs, with the red skirt, makes this leg fall well into my naff section, and is  the only one that has a skirt, and printed with Tenerife.

On further examination, and in an attempt to take it apart, there is no valve for refilling, so I must conclude that this just a disposable lighter!

    

                                    

 This fourth leg, number 163 in my collection, I bought earlier this month at a Stafford Antique Fair, for £5.  It stands upright and is silver metal, but with no makers markings. It is styled as a long boot, but nothing to tell whether it is left or right.

And that’s my lighter collection.