Ronson USA 1935 Art Deco Brown Lacquered Desk Box With Touch Tip Striker
Desk double box with lighter designed by Ronson.
A and very beautiful desk box, created in New Jersey United States by The Ronson Lighter Co. during the art deco period, back in the 1930's. This is a rare box with a single hinged lid with a square thumb and an integrated touch tip striker. It was designed with strong geometric patterns and crafted in solid steel. Embellished with cream and brown lacquer, creating a great color contrast and the interiors are lined up with natural cedar wood. Extremely well made and solid construction with great care and attention to details. This surely is a very decorative piece and should be a great conversation item.
Weight: 889.5 Grams, (1.96 Pounds).
Measurements: 203 mm by 102 mm by 89 mm (8.0 x 4.0 x 3.5 Inches).
Marks: Stamped with the maker's mark and signed, "FASHIONED BY RONSON NEWARK NJ US PATS 1.986754-2.118.692 BRITISH PAT 435.667-PAT. IN CANADA 1935 NEWARK NJ-USA-ART METAL WORKS INC. RONSON-TOUCH-TIP ".
The Ronson Lighter Company
The 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) as Business Manager, the company soon became World Famous. In the 1910s The Art Metal Works were producing very good quality Hood Ornaments and gained a reputation as a dependable supplier of same. All accounts state that Louis Aronson was a gifted man, who at 16 years old set up a money-making shop in his parent's 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. 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. 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.
Louis Vincent Aronson was an American inventor, industrialist and philanthropist who is best remembered as the inventor of Ronson lighters. "He was a son of Simon and Jennie Aronson, who were natives of Prussia. He was born December 25, 1869, in New York City, and there his boyhood was spent. Aronson was an exceptionally gifted young man who graduated from public school at the age of 12 before entering a New York Technical School specializing in metallurgy, practical metal working and mechanical drawing. At the same time, he set up a laboratory in the basement of his parents' home where he experimented with plating processes and turned out money-making items while he devised ways of metalizing common items, in a durable finish of matte gold, including flowers, butterflies, animal claws and baby shoes.
Aronson natural ability for designing was honed at the technical school and served him well throughout his life. He excelled and completed the School’s four year academic program in three years. When he graduated in 1886, at the age of 16, he was qualified as an Expert Metallurgist, Draftsman and Designer, he also had a high level knowledge of Chemistry. He returned to the school five years later as an instructor in metallurgy for several years before devoting all his time to his own company. When he was 24 years old, he sold the rights to a commercially valuable metal plating process according to Urban Cummings book Ronson, The Worlds Greatest Lighters, Wick Lighters 1913–2000. He gained public recognition when he won an award in 1893 from the Belgian government for the creation of the first non-toxic match, and young businessman Aronson received 50,000 Francs, equaling $10,000 in U.S. dollars. In 1897 he received a U.S. patent (592,227) for a match design (called the Wind-match) that would light in windy conditions or when wet. He continued working on his match designs including inventing the “Birds Eye” or “Kitchen” match that had a dual-tip design in 1903; this was an important safety improvement because friction matches of the day would sometimes light accidentally especially when stepped on or while in one’s pocket. He realized that placing a small friction ignition chemical on the tip instead of the entire match-head greatly limited accidental ignition. This style of match is still in use today.
Literature: Urban K. Cummings, Ronson, the World's Greatest Lighter : Wick Lighters 1913-1966 Bird Dog Books, California. 1992. For similar boxes.
Note: This model was produced in two colors, black or brown and with double or single inserts like this one.
Note: This piece is empty of any flammable, gas or butane substances and is ready to be ship by any carrier,
Condition: The overall condition of this box is good. Beside the little normal wear, all part are in working order. This piece has been carefully inspected to guarantee the condition and authenticity.
INVENTORY REF: D07292323AAOH/.1218
