Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 12

WILLIE KOOL 1938 The Penguin Figural Bar And Table-Desk Electric Lighter

About the Item

Willie Kool desk-table electric lighter. This is a beautiful electronic bar or desk lighter, created as a promotional item by the Kool Cigarette Company, back in the 1938. The sculptural and elusive electric lighter has been crafted with the iconic figure of the company Willie Kool, in color plastic with parts in metal and fitted with a long electric cord. The figural penguin is in pretty very good shape, in working condition and should be a gorgeous addition to any collection. This will be a great conversation item. Willie The Penguin Willie the penguin was introduced in 1934 by The Ted Bates Advertising Agency. During the time there were several other cartoonish spokespersons like Kellog’s Snap, Crackle & Pop, Reddy Kilowatt, and the Campbell’s Kids. Willie’s product line included salt and pepper shakers, ash trays, holders for wooden matches, lighters, and when air-conditioning was introduced, a version was created to suggest customers to enter a storefront because it was “Kool” inside. It has also been debated that a picture of Willie wearing a top hat was the inspiration for the Penguin character in Batman. Regardless, Willie appeared in his own comic books after he was licensed by Standard Comics for six issues, with the cigarette brand dropped from the title. By the ’60s, however, the company had shifted advertising focus and opted for wintry outdoor scenes to promote their business. (Miller Fenwood with thanks) Materials: Lacquered and color plastic, metal, electric cord and enamel. Year: 1934-1940. Weight: 1.5 Pounds, (0.68 Kg.). Measurements: 89 mm by 114 mm by 223 mm (3.5 x 4.25 x 8.75 Inches). Marks: "KOOL MILD MENTHOL CIGARETTES". Note: This lighter is empty of any flammable, gas or butane substances and is ready to be ship by any carrier. This lighter just need a new flint and proper lighter fluid. Was tested and is in working condition. Note: This is an electric novelty advertising lighter, is a very old vintage Tobacciana item. We encourage and recommend the buyer to carefully inspect the electronic devices, since this is an antique collectible piece, with over 90 years old. Condition: The overall condition of this desk lighter is very good and acceptable. Beside the normal wear, there is no damage and all parts are secured in the settings. This piece has been carefully inspected to guarantee the condition and authenticity. INVENTORY REF: D091924MOMH/.4532
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 8.75 in (22.23 cm)Width: 4.25 in (10.8 cm)Depth: 3.5 in (8.89 cm)
  • Style:
    Art Deco (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1938
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use. Minor fading. The overall condition of this desk lighter is very good and acceptable. Beside the normal wear, there is no damage and all parts are secured in the settings. This piece has been carefully inspected to guarantee the condition and authenticity.
  • Seller Location:
    Miami, FL
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: D091924MOMH/.45321stDibs: LU8303241702702

More From This Seller

View All
WILLIE KOOL 1938 The Penguin Figural Bar And Table-Desk Petrol Lighter
Located in Miami, FL
Willie Kool desk-table petrol lighter. This is a beautiful bar or desk petrol lighter, created as a promotional item by the Kool Cigarette Company, back in the 1938. The sculptural and elusive lighter has been crafted with the iconic figure of the company Willie Kool, in solid steel and decorated with green, black and white paint. The figural penguin is in pretty very good shape, in working condition and should be a gorgeous addition to any collection. This will be a great conversation item. Willie The Penguin Willie the penguin was introduced in 1934 by The Ted Bates Advertising Agency. During the time there were several other cartoonish spokespersons like Kellogg’s Snap, Crackle & Pop, Reddy Kilowatt, and the Campbell’s Kids. Willie’s product line included salt and pepper shakers, ash trays...
Category

Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Tobacco Accessories

Materials

Steel, Enamel

Polaire Paris 1938 Art Deco Table Desk Petrol Lighter-Clock In Chromed Steel
By Polaris
Located in Miami, FL
A desk lighter clock designed by Polaire Paris. A beautiful desk lighter-clock, created in Paris France by the Alphonse Brun company know as Polaire Paris, back in the 1938. This pi...
Category

Vintage 1930s French Art Deco Tobacco Accessories

Materials

Steel, Chrome

Ronson USA 1938 Art Deco Touch Tip Lighter Junior Bar In Steel & Lacquer
By Louis Vincent Aronson, Ronson Art Metal Works
Located in Miami, FL
Junior barman with touch tip lighter designed by Ronson. An exceptional and very beautiful desk piece, created in New Jersey United States by The ...
Category

Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Tobacco Accessories

Materials

Steel

DUNHILL 1938 Short Rollalite Petrol Pocket Lighter In Solid .925 Sterling Silver
By Dunhill, Alfred Dunhill
Located in Miami, FL
A rollalite lighter designed by Alfred Dunhill This is a very scarce petrol pocket lighter, created in Switzerland by La Nationale company for the Alfred Dunhill Company in London E...
Category

Vintage 1930s European Art Deco Tobacco Accessories

Materials

Silver, Sterling Silver

RONSON 1938 Art Deco Machine Age Lacquered Deluxe Classic Touch Tip Lighter
By Louis Vincent Aronson, Ronson Art Metal Works
Located in Miami, FL
Deluxe desk lighter designed by Ronson. This extremely rare Ronson Deluxe Classic Touch-Tip lighter was made in 1938 by the Ronson Art Metal Works Inc. located in Newark, New Jersey in the United States. This lighter began a very successful era for Ronson Touch Tip series of lighters which pushed out the strike lighters from the market. This fabulous Art Deco / Machine Age design, was crafted with streamline patterns. Solid construction in polished chrome and the metal body is treated with brown faux tortoise lacquer and the lighter base is padded with green felt. This surely is a very decorative piece and a great conversation item in gorgeous and exceptional preserved and almost near mint condition with the original cardboard box included. Model: Ronson Deluxe T-T Classic lighter...
Category

Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Tobacco Accessories

Materials

Steel

THE CLASSIC 1930 Jumbo Desk Petrol Lighter Bridge Scoring Game Bakelite & Steel
Located in Miami, FL
The Classic Jumbo desk lighter with bridge scoring by the Clark Brothers. This is a very nice desk-petrol table lighter created in England during the art-deco period, back in 1930. ...
Category

Vintage 1930s English Art Deco Tobacco Accessories

Materials

Enamel, Steel, Chrome

You May Also Like

Tom Wolfe, the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
By Ted Streshinsky, Tom Wolfe, Lawrence Schiller
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Hardcover in a slipcase, letterpress-printed text, two different paper stocks, and tip-ins, 9.4 x 13.4 in., 356 pages. In 1964, famed writer Ken Kesey and...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary European Books

Materials

Paper

Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Art Edition "Me and My Shadow"
By Lawrence Schiller, Ted Streshinsky, Tom Wolfe
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Fiber-based gelatin silver print, 21.8 x 28.8 cm on 22.9 x 33 cm paper (8.6 x 11.8 in. on 9 x 13 in. paper); hardcover volume in a slipcase, letterpress-printed text, two different paper stocks, and tip-ins, 24 x 34 cm (9.4 x 13.4 in.), 356 pages. In 1964, famed writer Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters set off across America on a “Transcontinental Bus Tour,” headed for the New York World’s Fair. Kesey’s journey, in the company of his Merry Pranksters, lies at the heart of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, an as-if-first-hand account of the group’s antics and ethos by Tom Wolfe, wunderkind of the New Journalism movement. This Art Edition presents Wolfe’s era-defining text in letterpress, along with facsimile reproductions of his manuscript pages, ephemera of the period, and photographs of the acid scene by Lawrence Schiller and Ted Streshinsky. The accompanying print, Me and My Shadow, by Lawrence Schiller, was photographed at the Hollywood Acid Test on February 25, 1966. As the first photojournalist to capture the acid scene from the inside, Schiller began with a single contact in Berkeley, California, and built a large network of young, receptive subjects who allowed him to document their experiences with LSD starting in late 1965. At first, he was a fly on the wall as groups of friends tripped in the privacy of their homes. By early 1966 he had met the Merry Pranksters and was invited to the Acid Test in Hollywood. During the Test, Kool-Aid laced with a heavy dose of LSD was served up from an industrial-sized pot. Participants turned on the Grateful Dead’s music and tuned in to the burgeoning psychedelic scene. Schiller’s image of a tripster “freaking freely” with his own shadow—long believed to be Neal Cassady—appeared in Life magazine in March 1966 in a photo essay which served to introduce the nation to the sweeping new LSD epidemic. For Flaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary European Books

Materials

Paper

Tom Wolfe, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Art Edition "Hollywood Acid Test"
By Tom Wolfe, Ted Streshinsky, Lawrence Schiller
Located in Los Angeles, CA
C-print, 21.8 x 28.8 cm on 22.9 x 33 cm paper (8.6 x 11.8 in. on 9 x 13 in. paper); hardcover volume in a slipcase, letterpress-printed text, two different paper stocks, plus tip-ins, 24 x 34 cm (9.4 x 13.4 in.), 356 pages. “Larry Schiller is the one who came up with so many of these primal pictures. It was he who broke the story in the first place!” —Tom Wolfe In 1964, famed writer Ken Kesey...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary European Books

Materials

Paper

Pre-War Electric Lamp Base Lighter, Circa 1930
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Pre-War Electric Lamp Base Lighter, featuring a modified lamp socket fixed with an electric lighter similar to car light. Circa 1930
Category

Vintage 1930s American Tobacco Accessories

Materials

Chrome

Antique Art Deco Figural Marching Band Drum & Drumsticks Cigarette Table Lighter
Located in Hamilton, Ontario
This antique table lighter is unsigned, but presumed to have originated from France and date to approximately 1920 and done in the period Art Deco style. The lighter is done in a realistic manner and resembles a marching band drum with two drum sticks...
Category

Early 20th Century French Art Deco Tobacco Accessories

Materials

Metal, Brass

Art Deco Chrome Lighted Smoker's Stand or Ashtray with Electric Lighter
Located in Hamilton, Ontario
This Art Deco styled lighted smoker's stand is unsigned but presumed to have been made in the United States in the 1950s. The stand features a light at the top and base made of swirled glass of orange and cream hues to replicate alabaster which emits a warm glow when lit. The central post is also accented with a marbled and tapered, possibly alabaster cylinder which is separated by a chrome ring. The top features two removable ashtray cups and a covered tobacco canister...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Tobacco Accessories

Materials

Metal

Recently Viewed

View All