TOWN & COUNTRY ZIPPOS
Town & Country Zippos are highly collectible. Introduced in the late 1940's, "Town & Country" refers to a "paint on paint" process whereby paint was applied manually to grooves engraved on the surface of the case. Enamel was then applied and the process including baking the painted lighters in ovens to harden the enamel. The variations in the individual art work can be seen below by comparing the Zippos with similar designs below. The vast majority of Town & Country designs were engraved on Zippos with a high-polish finish. The application of the paint gradually evolved from painting by hand to silkscreen-type processes through the 1960's. The later silkscreen versions are often referred to by collectors as "transitional".