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Vintage Ronson De-Light lighter patented 1918. This lighter came from my Grandmother's estate and she and my grandfather were both smokers. This could have been a present to one of them in their youth. It looks as though it was never used. The surface of the lighter shows that it was thrown in a drawer. T is surface marks on both sides of the lighter. T are rub marks on the back side of the lighter. This is a lighter that is nearly 90 years old.
The bottom of the lighter has the following written on the center screw: Ronson De-Light M'FD by The Art Metal Works Newark NJ. The smaller screw has: Pat Dec 31, 1918. Other Pats Pdg. The other side of the bottom says Pat'd. Other Pats PDG.

The Ronson company started as The Art Metal Works in 1886 by a man named Louis V. Aronson . Louis was an exceptionally gifted man who at 16 years old received a U.S. , Patent for a metal plating process he developed and which had an immediate commercial value.

Not only was he able to sell his patent for a very good price, healso retained legal rights to use his own process commercially. He took proceeds from the sale to open The Art Metal Works in New York city . The following year he moved his factory to Newark , New Jersey . Before long the company was producing lamps, book ends, statues and other decorative items for home and office use. T was a high level of attention to producing a quality product which appealed to the buying public. As a result, t is great demand in today's collector market for early Ronson products.

Louis Aronson applied for a patent in 1913 for a Liter (lighter) for which he later received the patent. Over the next few years many additional lighter patent applications were submitted and granted to Mr. Aronson. In 1926 he released his newly created Banjo lighter with Automatic operation . This meant that with one press of the thumb the lighter would light and when released the flame would be snuffed out. The Banjo lighter was a great success for Ronson and shortly after the release demand far exceeded supplies. Louis Aronson was quick to realize the potential for the new design and continued to experiment with new lighter styles and other applications for his invention. Louis Aronson received exclusive patent rights for the automatic style lighter.

Lighters were marketed under the Ronson name, which was a modification of his family name Aronson (A-Ronson). Ronson lighters were produced to high standards and were very reliable. Demand for Mr. Aronson's lighters exceeded production at first but under his leadership Ronson produced an impressive variety of Lighter styles to satisfy the public demand. Many of his early lighters are desirable and demand high prices for their collectible, artistic and historic significance.

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