1960 Squaw Valley Olympics lighter & perpetual calandar.

[sonomabarn67]

About an inch and a half and has ports on the base for fuel & flints. I only found one other in a museum and now I can't find that! I actually remember watching those Olympics on the B&W tv at our grandparent's house, I think on ABC Wide World of Sports. I thought there would be tons of them. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[pasare-92]

Antique Hooooooo.............................. Thanks

[maxine*j]

What a nifty thing!   I didn't see another one, either, although I didn't have a lot of time to search. 

This is probably the one you found, in the Spurlock Museum at the University of Illinois:

https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/collections/search-collection/details.php?a=1977.01.0945

Maybe someone here could help:

https://www.palisadestahoe.com/events-and-activities/activity-finder/olympic-museum

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[argon38]

I'm finding similar commemorative lighters, but none with the calendar:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-1960s-viii-olypic-winter-1962418749 

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/squaw-valley-winter-olympics-lighter-132201537 

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-1921-morgan-silver-dollar-1815718407 

[maxine*j]

If these are as scarce as it seems, I wonder if they were made in a small number for presentation to VIPs, rather than being souvenir gift shop items.   Of course, maybe they were made as souvenirs but in limited numbers and priced high.

I notice that the one in the Spurlock is from the Avery Brundage collection and he was, among other things, President of the International Olympic Committee:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avery_Brundage

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[sonomabarn67]

I've never seen so many restrictions on a listing!

[maxine*j]

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@sonomabarn67 wrote:

I've never seen so many restrictions on a listing!

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NOTE :SORRY NO SALES TO UKRAINE "EXCEPT KIEV "IN PRESENT TIME !!!!!!!!! NOTE: BUYERS FROM :RUSSIA,ITALY,GREECE,TURKEY, , ASIA,AMERICAS,CONTACT SELLER PRIOR PLACING THE BET. NOTE:NO SALES AND SHIPPING TO :VIETNAM,MALAYSIA, THAILAND,INDONESIA!!!!! GLOBAL SHIPPING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COMBINE SHIPPING AVAILABLE,BUYERS MUST NOTIFY SELLER!!!!!!!!!!!!

The seller won't sell domestically, either, or at least not without a bunch of extra hoo-hah, as the U.S. is part of the "Americas."  And, of course, so is Canada.  Evidently unrestricted sales are limited to the U.K., the capital city of Ukraine, the Middle East, Africa, Australasia, and perhaps one or two unspecified countries in Western Europe. 

"Placing the bet..."?

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[sonomabarn67]

What a good read on Brundage.

I think you are on to something about the limited numbers. Maybe the museum would ike to trade a few netsukes for my lighter! 😃

[yankeebob1951]

Did you notice the 3rd of the "Detailed Images" from the Sperlock page?

https://www.spurlock.illinois.edu/img-DB/orig-digi/1977/1977.01/1977.01.0945.3.JPG

The Nevada state motto back on this one along w/the silver dollar & street car back examples argon cited suggest that maybe these were customized for VIP presentation or perhaps there was a state-related variant for each state or maybe both functional & state options were offered.

Possibly your calendar back was a later add-on & there's some tribute to Rhode Island underneath, ha-ha!

& I agree the Olympic Museum at High Camp already cited would be a good place to look for further help. 

[Anonymous]

Minor point - The calendar already had ten years of its useful life behind it when this item was created in 1960. Doesn't that seem a little off?

[argon38]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Minor point - The calendar already had ten years of its useful life behind it when this item was created in 1960. Doesn't that seem a little off?

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A perceptive observation, but I can believe that a perpetual calendar would have come with leeway on both sides of the current year. Imagine (say) a businessman in 1960, trying to recall on what day a meeting took place a few years earlier. (He knows the date, but not the day.) This would have given him the answer straight away, without having to work backwards from the 1960 calendar. In fact it would have been even more helpful for  past dates than for future ones, as counting days backwards is more tricky.

[argon38 · Accepted solution]

By the way, I came across another 1921 coin example:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/viii-1960-winter-olympic-lighter-1878935263 

I don't suppose there is anything particularly significant about the year 1921 - probably just a case of the same die pattern being used to stamp more than one lighter. Or are they real coins?

[sonomabarn67]

I didn't give this as accepted solution. But thank you.

I don't think they are real coins.