A Simple Invention That Defined an Era

I was sifting through my gramps’s old box of crapola a long time ago — you’ve seen that kind of thing before. A rusty pocketknife, a pair of faded Navy pins, some strange foreign coins that smelled like the ’40s. Then I spotted this little metal tube, which looked like a Dryco flint holder, in the corner. Thought it was a blown fuse, or the sort of stuff you throw into the junk drawer and don’t see again for 40 years.

But nope. I unscrewed the top — and boom — flints.

It was clearly a small flint holder from Dryco. I didn’t know even one, honestly, but the second I realized what we were going there to see, I experienced this weird little wave of respect. As in … this little thing had likely seen more than I have.

What the Heck Is a Dryco Flint Holder?

If you’ve ever used a  Zippo, you also know that these things are tanks. They’ll light in the wind, rain, maybe even underwater if you first say something nice. But no flint? No fire. It is basically a cool-looking chunk of metal that clicks.

Enter the holder of Dryco flint. It’s a thin, small metal tube — smaller than a little finger — that contains spare flints for your Zippo. It has a screw-on lid with a touch of texture, so greasy fingers or frozen hands can open it. No bells, no whistles, just smart design that makes sense.

It didn’t need to be cool. It just had to do its job. And dang, it did.

A GI’s Best Friend (Apart From Coffee and Cigarettes)

Now, try to imagine yourself as a 19-year-old G.I. in World War II. It’s cold. It’s raining. You’re in a foxhole hoping the letter from home arrives before the next shell does. Your Zippo’s dead. Not outta fuel—outta flint.

That’s where the Dryco comes in handy as a reliable flint holder. You hunker down and fish out of your pocket the old spark case, pop it open, drop in a new spark and all of a sudden? You’re warm, you’re lit, and perhaps your nerves quiet just enough to capture a few moments of peace.

It’s not glamorous. But it mattered. It’s the little things that get you through sometimes.

Back Home, Same Flame

 Zippos would not die out after the war. My daddy carried one in his pocket everyday of his life. He’d flick it open like a nervous tic — click-clack, click-clack — while talking, fixing a carburetor, or yelling at the TV. He stopped smoking years ago, but he kept that lighter. It was the habit minus the cigarette.

“He did not have a holder for any Dryco flint. By the time I was a kid in the ’80s, flints came in flimsy plastic packs that you’d have lost three days after you bought them. But the Dryco? That thing had staying power. Those dudes who used ‘em, they didn’t lose ‘em. They threw them into glove boxes, toolkits, cigar boxes – basically wherever significant little things go to retire.

A Time Capsule in Your Hand

A Dryco flint holder is like treasure these days. Not shiny, I mean, but slow-you-down kind. It’s not flashy. It’s not worth a ton. But it’s got heft, history, soul. You can feel the years in it.

Whenever I see one in a flea market or antique store, I buy one. Just to feel that connection. Makes me curious whose pocket the holder for Dryco flint resided in. Or perhaps it was carried by a soldier in Korea. Perhaps it was a fixture in a tackle box on hushed lake mornings. Who knows?

But man, it was there. Through stuff. Which is more than I can say for half of the gadgets I own.

Why This Little Thing Still Makes Me Cry

Look—I know it’s just a tube with flints. But to me? It’s a symbol. When people gave a damn about their tools. When you didn’t discard things if they didn’t work properly anymore. You fixed it. You carried it. You had the respect for the things that made life operate that much better.

The holder for Dryco flint was not designed to wow. It was made to last. And its air raid did just that.

If you should ever happen across a Dryco flint holder, don’t blow it off. Pick it up. Twist the lid. Feel the metal. You might just rekindle an old spark.