On eBay Now...Vintage Bowers Storm Master Lighter WAC Pallas Athene Women's Army Corps in Box For Sale
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Vintage Bowers Storm Master Lighter WAC Pallas Athene Women's Army Corps in Box:
$135.00
Vintage Bowers Storm Master flip-top lighter with its original box. Made by Bowers Manufacturing Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The front panel is engraved with a helmeted head in profile inside a circle. This is Pallas Athene, the insignia adopted for the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1942 and carried forward by the Women's Army Corps. The circular disc form matches the WAC enlisted collar device. I have no documentation on where this lighter came from, so I am describing what is engraved on it, not claiming it was officially issued. Given the original 1.45 price sticker on the box, this was most likely a PX or exchange counter item rather than a presentation piece.
Markings: base reads PATS. PEND. / Storm Master / MADE IN U.S.A. Box side reads AMERICAN MADE / PAT. NO. 2796629. That patent is the Bowers lid hinge, granted June 1957. Bowers continued using the older "pats. pend." case die after the patent issued, so the two markings do not match. This is normal for the model and not a sign of a mismatched pair.
Condition: Unfired and unused as far as I can tell. Original price sticker of 1.45 still attached to the box. Box shows light shelf wear and age toning, shown in photos. Lighter has no fuel, no flint, and sparks when the wheel is turned. Sold as a collectible, not as a working lighter.
Ships in a padded envelop with tracking. No fuel included, per carrier rules.