Description
1930's Ronson Art Metal Works English Bulldog Table Lighter. 4.5" tall x 5.25" long. rare and unusual.Along with the Touch Tip, the Striker lighters are
probably the most desirable Ronson Lighters for collectors. It is evident the
craftsmanship that the Art Metal Works put into these well made lighters. To use
striker lighters, one pulls out the wand, which is resting in lighter fluid,
from the top of the dog’s head. Then sliding the wand down the flint on the
dog’s snout will cause a spark and ignite the tip of the wand. Ronson offered a
variety of animal striker lighters. Some of the other animals include an
elephant, a very Art Deco pelican and a bear.The Ronson lighter company started
as The Art Metal Works in 1897 and was incorporated on July 20, 1898, by Max
Hecht, Louis Vincent Aronson and Leopold Herzig, in Newark, New Jersey.Louis V.
Aronson was a huge creative driving force for the company; and, with a few
business adjustments, including the addition of Alexander Harris (1910-11)[4][5]
as Business Manager, the company soon became World Famous.All accounts state
that Louis Aronson was a gifted man, who at 16 years old set up a money-making
shop in his parents' home - before receiving a U.S. patent for a commercially
valuable metal-plating process he developed when he was 24 years old, and he
sold half the rights while retaining the Right to Use. "His experiments, which
he has been conducting since his early youth, resulted in 1893 in the discovery
of a process for electrically producing tinplate. Much money was expended upon
improving the process... and has been of great practical value to the whole
industry.[7] Retaining its rights, he sold half the patent rights, and later
used part of the proceeds to open the Art Metal Works in Newark, N.J.[8] Soon
the company was producing a variety of high-quality Lamps, Book ends, Art
Statues and other decorative items, prized today for their detail in the
collector marketplace.tw154
