Of course, lighters are useful for many things, in addition to lighting a cigarette, a pipe or a cigar. Today, most smokers do carry their own lighter, but there are many times where you will still be asked to lend a light to someone in need. With a significant percentage of the adult population smoking tobacco, odds were that you would regularly be asked for a ‘light’ while promenading through town. This tradition grew in popularity with the mass-marketing of cigarettes in the 1940s and 1950s, continuing well into the 1960s. As traditions became more modern, it became a polite necessity to carry a lighter with you. Today, lighters are far more compact and safe to carry. This was partly due to the etiquette of entertaining, but also because lighters were not as safe or small back then, and you stood less of a chance of lighting yourself on fire or having gunpowder leak into your pocket if you just relied on the lighter offered by the host. As the tradition goes, it would be up to the host to offer the lighter around the room for men to use. This history continued throughout much of the Edwardian era and still continues to this day in many aristocratic households. Having the ability to offer it is a practice that dates back to the Victorian era when men would retire to their drawing room after dinner for a cigar with their fellow guests. Just because you don’t plan to smoke a cigar during your afternoon walk, doesn’t mean that you won’t stumble upon someone else in need of a light.

Sure, you may use it yourself, but it’s there to lend to someone else in need. Trench lighter from 1916 Why You Should Carry a LighterĪ lighter is like a handkerchief.

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