VIETNAM ZIPPOS

This paper describes Zippo cigarette lighters collected in Vietnam. Th ough they are objects of contemporary material culture, these artefact s derive from the Vietnam War era. They have hitherto been absent from the anthropological literature of material culture studies. Inscripti ons engraved on behalf of former owners give insights into the attitud es and feelings of soldiers from that time in that place. The social l ives of these Zippos have moved through stages of ignition and war com ment to become expensive memorabilia for sale in Vietnamese market pla ces. Foreign visitors to Vietnam acquire them in their thousands, sell ing them at significant markup in their home countries. Vietnam Zippos have become palimpsests for one way modern communist Vietnam, with a clear view of independence and history, has moved into the present and future world capitalist system while countenancing ironic representat ions of its past.