thedrifter
01-02-08, 09:15 AM
Zippo: American icon that reflects GI sentiments on Vietnam War
by Frank Zeller
Wed Jan 2, 1:53 AM ET
Talisman, tool, keepsake, weapon -- the Zippo lighter was a daily companion for US soldiers fighting in Vietnam, who used it for everything from lighting up marijuana joints to burning down villages.
An American icon, the tough metal lighter with the distinctive click became a symbol of death and destruction, but also a canvas onto which GIs engraved their thoughts and feelings, ranging from the profane to the profound.
At roadside stalls in the former Saigon, soldiers had their lighters emblazoned with combat slogans and social protest, peace signs and marijuana leaves, rock lyrics, Biblical psalms, cartoons and sex scenes.
Some mottos reflected wartime bravado, such as "Army lifers never die, they go to hell and regroup". Others reflected antiwar sentiment, such as "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace".
Taken together, the Zippos are a collage of the 1960s and 70s conflict when war rained death on Vietnam even as the peace movement and the "Summer of Love" counterculture spilled into US army bases in the conflict zone.
Californian artist Bradford Edwards, who describes himself as a Zippo fanatic, started buying the battered lighters 15 years ago, drawn by their dark symbolism and a style that makes them at once pop art and military artifact.
"The engravings are like tattoos on a stainless steel-plated brass lighter that happens to be an American icon," the 53-year-old artist said.
"It's trench art. The soldiers put these sentiments and ideas and longings on their lighters. It reflects what those soldiers are going through, the good the bad, the joyous and the tragic."
More than 60 engraved lighters from Edwards' collection have been photographed for the book "Vietnam Zippo -- American Soldiers' Engravings and Stories 1965-1973" by Sherry Buchanan.
"The themes of the period are all there, reflecting the Zeitgeist and the sensitivities of the 60s and 70s, the dominant images of that time," said Edwards, sitting in a cafe near his Hanoi studio.
Some mottos were used many times, such as this adaptation of a Biblical psalm: "Yea though I walk through the valley of the jungle of death, I will fear no evil for I am the evilest son of a ***** in the valley."
Some are grimly comic, such as: "If you got this off my dead ass I hope it brings you the same luck it brought me."
Others, such as "Napalm sticks to kids," reflect the sheer horror of the war, or the anger at having to fight it: "We are the unwilling led by the unqualified doing the unnecessary for the ungrateful."
"As the conflict got bogged down and as there was a chorus of dissent, there were people in the military that basically joined that voice," said Edwards.
The Zippo itself became infamous when a 1965 television news report showed US Marines on a search-and-destroy mission setting bamboo huts ablaze.
"Zippo came to be used as a noun but also a verb -- to Zippo a village," said Edwards. "The flame thrower trucks and the portable flame throwers were also referred to as Zippos.'Zippoing' became synonymous with burning."
Edwards, the son of a Vietnam War pilot, has reproduced Zippos in lacquerware, oil, metal etching, mother-of-pearl, stone carving, graphite drawing, silver leaf and photography.
He says he is no war junkie and understands Vietnam is a country, not a war, and an inspiring one as that.
"I'm here to make artwork," said Edwards, who has lived in Vietnam on and off for around 15 years.
"I actually do a lot more artwork on the dynamic of contemporary Vietnam. It's the spirit of the people," he said. "It's the speed of recovery and how rapidly adaptable the Vietnamese are, and how today you have to be almost diligent to find much evidence of the war."
Genuine Vietnam war Zippos have almost disappeared from Vietnam's streets although fakes are widely sold, said Edwards, who estimates he has handled about 100,000 of the lighters over the years.
"Now I've kicked the habit," he said. "I haven't bought a Zippo since 2001."
Ellie
by Frank Zeller
Wed Jan 2, 1:53 AM ET
Talisman, tool, keepsake, weapon -- the Zippo lighter was a daily companion for US soldiers fighting in Vietnam, who used it for everything from lighting up marijuana joints to burning down villages.
An American icon, the tough metal lighter with the distinctive click became a symbol of death and destruction, but also a canvas onto which GIs engraved their thoughts and feelings, ranging from the profane to the profound.
At roadside stalls in the former Saigon, soldiers had their lighters emblazoned with combat slogans and social protest, peace signs and marijuana leaves, rock lyrics, Biblical psalms, cartoons and sex scenes.
Some mottos reflected wartime bravado, such as "Army lifers never die, they go to hell and regroup". Others reflected antiwar sentiment, such as "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace".
Taken together, the Zippos are a collage of the 1960s and 70s conflict when war rained death on Vietnam even as the peace movement and the "Summer of Love" counterculture spilled into US army bases in the conflict zone.
Californian artist Bradford Edwards, who describes himself as a Zippo fanatic, started buying the battered lighters 15 years ago, drawn by their dark symbolism and a style that makes them at once pop art and military artifact.
"The engravings are like tattoos on a stainless steel-plated brass lighter that happens to be an American icon," the 53-year-old artist said.
"It's trench art. The soldiers put these sentiments and ideas and longings on their lighters. It reflects what those soldiers are going through, the good the bad, the joyous and the tragic."
More than 60 engraved lighters from Edwards' collection have been photographed for the book "Vietnam Zippo -- American Soldiers' Engravings and Stories 1965-1973" by Sherry Buchanan.
"The themes of the period are all there, reflecting the Zeitgeist and the sensitivities of the 60s and 70s, the dominant images of that time," said Edwards, sitting in a cafe near his Hanoi studio.
Some mottos were used many times, such as this adaptation of a Biblical psalm: "Yea though I walk through the valley of the jungle of death, I will fear no evil for I am the evilest son of a ***** in the valley."
Some are grimly comic, such as: "If you got this off my dead ass I hope it brings you the same luck it brought me."
Others, such as "Napalm sticks to kids," reflect the sheer horror of the war, or the anger at having to fight it: "We are the unwilling led by the unqualified doing the unnecessary for the ungrateful."
"As the conflict got bogged down and as there was a chorus of dissent, there were people in the military that basically joined that voice," said Edwards.
The Zippo itself became infamous when a 1965 television news report showed US Marines on a search-and-destroy mission setting bamboo huts ablaze.
"Zippo came to be used as a noun but also a verb -- to Zippo a village," said Edwards. "The flame thrower trucks and the portable flame throwers were also referred to as Zippos.'Zippoing' became synonymous with burning."
Edwards, the son of a Vietnam War pilot, has reproduced Zippos in lacquerware, oil, metal etching, mother-of-pearl, stone carving, graphite drawing, silver leaf and photography.
He says he is no war junkie and understands Vietnam is a country, not a war, and an inspiring one as that.
"I'm here to make artwork," said Edwards, who has lived in Vietnam on and off for around 15 years.
"I actually do a lot more artwork on the dynamic of contemporary Vietnam. It's the spirit of the people," he said. "It's the speed of recovery and how rapidly adaptable the Vietnamese are, and how today you have to be almost diligent to find much evidence of the war."
Genuine Vietnam war Zippos have almost disappeared from Vietnam's streets although fakes are widely sold, said Edwards, who estimates he has handled about 100,000 of the lighters over the years.
"Now I've kicked the habit," he said. "I haven't bought a Zippo since 2001."
Ellie