Where did Zippo Lighters original Advertising Car disappear to?

In the late 40's Zippo Lighters of Bradford Pa. commissioned a Pittsburgh  advertising agency to come up with a new gimmick and they did in the way of the Zippo Lighter car.
Made from a 1947 Chrysler Saratoga   the advertising  worked as My dad a a steel worker and many of his steel mill buddy's had them.Almost every one I knew who smoked had one until the Bic portable lighters came out. But Zippo is still a big player in the lighter market as they have become very collectible and commemorative lighters are still made to this day. 


Unfortunately thou the car  fell into disrepair and was stored at a ford dealership in Pittsburgh and when Zippo asked that it be returned so it could be refurbished it had disappeared.

Now why a Chrysler was taken to a ford dealership in first place who knows. Were is the car either it was cut up for scrap or its sitting in some ones private collection some where or parts are. 
But what a neat find it would be to find it still in one piece in a garage some where.
Whikle the original car is gone a new replica of the car has been built and is on display at the factory .



A little known fire which killed 48 at Penn Ave. & S. Aiken Street in 1931 with many questions

1931 was a horrible time in Pittsburgh with the start of the depression  and numerous bombings by racketeers going on around the city .
But it was also a time of a little known and discussed fire in the city's Garfield neighborhood at the
Little Sisters of the Poor where 48 died in a tragic evening  fire.
 Photos From Pittsburgh Dioceses Archives


Ever since I was a kid and my dad drove down Penn ave at S. Aiken was an  institutional building which was old and run down looking and housed crippled children. I always got the strange feeling thou something horrifying happened there thou not that building the one before it and I was right.
on July 25th 1931.

Which would turn out to be a horrifying day for Elderly and infirm  Inmates as they where then called  at the Little Sisters of the Poor's home . 
A home I never knew existed as far as I knew like many Pittsburgher's their home has been up in the North End  of Pittsburgh  in Brighton Heights 

But this was not always the case as I have now found out they started in Garfield  in a fire trap of a building which appears to have been overcrowded and  exit doors locked at night including a high stone wall around the property.
48 people would die in the fire and many more where badly injured.



The cause of the fire is believed to be accidental  but it might not have been as a careless smoker could have caused it or mentally unstable resident and the construction of the building with its lack of fire proof stairwells apparently no fire alarm not even pull stations and bells  and  no fire safety prevention just helped make the fire all that much worse.
The Catholic church among others seem to always think they are above following building codes. 
They know better they have divine protection well not that night.
So no wonder this fire has been hidden away and forgotten  I have always said the most dangerous place you can take your family on a Sunday is church too many of them are fire traps and accidents waiting to happen.

The old children's home which replaced the little sisters of poor home   on the site was torn down in the 90's and has been replaced with a modern sprinklered fire safe building .

But there are still plenty of old buildings the elderly are in around Pa. which have no sprinklers and lack proper protections and are fire traps and the state has done nothing about them. another tragedy like what happened in 1931 could happen today in a Personnel care home. 

A Look at the Strange Number of Business which Catch Fire right after they are Remodeled or days before there grand opening

Yes it is a very strange phenomena around Western Pa. seems a business is remodeled and a fire happens just days after reopening .
The Latest Rooks East Side Tavern in Ambridge which so far is considered accidental .
To make things even stranger in Ambridge another fire a few days later destroys a bridal shop just days from opening after being remodeled from a former retail store. Both appear to be accidental at this point in time

While many of these fires can be traced to the Unscrupulous Slob  Remodeling Contractors who cut corners  often times by doing work without building permits or inspections and violating building codes and using sub standard materials  which cash strapped business owners hire to do the remodeling on the cheap .
Many of these fires are Arson for Profit otherwise known as Insurance Fraud.

Typically a business remodels after profits start to fall and they need to update the business to bring back customers and their dollars.
This is especially true of restaurant and entertainment venues .
They do minimal remodeling to make the place look nice while not correcting code issues or actually causing additional code issues  and they then stock up the business with questionable  inventory they bought then mysteriously overnight there is a fire .
I can list case after case of this happening where no sooner is place reopened and its on fire all the way back to the vogue Terrace Fire .

But why a fire at night why not when the place is open?a good question.

If it is an electrical condition that causes the fire you would think its when the electrical system is under its most stress but a fire happening then would be discovered and fire fighters would be able to stop it.

But when it happens overnight and no one is around it gets a good head start and firefighters normally can do nothing but surround and drown it.
If the fire is set properly all evidence of arson is destroyed and a cause can not be determined or it appears to be accidental  if done so properly by the arsonist. Like stacking cardboard and other stock up close against a heater or  a portable heater being left on overnight . Deliberate Arson can also be made to look accidental like leaving loose an electrical connection as well and when it heats up and arcs looks like nothing more than sloppy electrical work. or blocking a vent on a piece of refrigeration equipment etc all innocent looking accidents and how do you prove it otherwise?

It is at this point Investigators are stymied for a cause they start looking at finances etc. and if there are enough red flags  it is then up to the Insurance company to pay off or not. In many cases they do not pay off
if there are enough red flags and some times a decision is challenged.
When there is not a pay off the business owner is ruined financially .But if there is a pay off  because the insurance company would rather pay off than face a court fight depending how much insurance they have  the bills are paid and small profit made or owner is just made whole and walks away not rebuilding.  No bankruptcy to file and loss of face with the community just a poor soul who tried and lost. all along a criminal no one knowing the wiser.

But this is if it is an arson fire what about accidental fires starting overnight?

 Yes plenty of fires do start overnight  often Heating Systems, Appliances and Electrical Wiring  are to blame.
due to poor maintenance.

A furnace overheats because filters have not been replaced and clog up restricting air or items being stored next to furnace ignite when they get too close because of  or deliberate poor house keeping

Bad wiring jobs wiring not properly terminated in box with cover and proper connectors  not properly grounded then when a wire gets rubbed due to vibration it makes contact with un-grounded  metal box on wood beam and small amount of current travels thru wood till beam finally drys out and catches fire a condition known as Pyrolysis  if box was properly grounded the fire would be prevented as overload device would operate  again this was either slob work or deliberate to cause a fire

Portable heaters,  and fans left on they get dirty and gummed up or wear out and catch fire again bad house keeping

Lights left on which go bad due to wiring drying out or undersized  lights which get up against combustible materials etc. and catch fire

Yes these are all things which cause fires overnight But again good house keeping and maintenance prevents this from happening and good contractors and business owners  make sure all items are shut off  and secured before they leave for the evening.

So even if it was accidental in many cases the accident was preventable in first place.
Of course a sleigh and crafty business owner can just let things like this go on a let a business catch fire as well its not an arson just bad house keeping but all  along it was deliberate but how do you prove the bad house keeping was deliberately done.

Yes Arson is a very complicated  crime hard to get convictions on and when you have experts being debunked all the time because they have used unproven junk science in determining a cause
 you can see the problem why so many fires go on and a crime is gotten away with.