Recommendation? Vintage Brass Bowers Trench Lighter - WWII Original or Replica? Need advice!

[Falcata]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought this vintage Bowers slide-sleeve trench lighter. I live in Spain, and they are so uncommon around here. I'm not entirely sure if it's a 100% genuine piece or some sort of old copy/replica, so I wanted to get the experts' opinion here on BladeForums.

It's made of solid brass and has some very clear markings stamped on the flint wheel arm. One side says "Bowers Mfg. Co." and the other side reads "Kalamazoo Mich.".

Seller's photos

I have two main questions for the community:

1. Is it a genuine WWII original or a replica? Does the specific shield stamp and the "Kalamazoo" marking date it exactly to the 1940s wartime era?
2. Should I restore it, and how? The body has a beautiful, honest dark patina that I am inclined to leave completely alone (no polishing, I promise!). What’s the safest way to clean it without scraping or ruining the metal? Also, would you recommend replacing the wick and cotton (zippo?) to make it a functional user, or should I just keep it as a display piece?

I saw this one on reddit as a period original:

(INFO)

Oh! And I'm also being offered this one...

My wife says I’m a packrat! Thanks!

 

[Falcata]

As I haven't received any clues, I have been investigating. It is a Bowers Slide Sleeve lighter, also called a slip-top on eBay or Kalamazoo flat in period advertising.

According to the seller, mine is original, functional, and complete; I see somewhat inflated prices on eBay, and it's being sold as a 'trench' lighter. However, since it lacks military coding, I believe it is a civilian model. Production began in the late 30s. I believe it continued until the early 50s. Below, one in 'mint' condition.

Could it have been in the hands of an American soldier?... Based on its condition, I don't think so, but since it was sold before 1942, the word 'Bowers' was omitted from the logo and the seller is Italian, you never know... It is the steel version with a brass finish, which is more highly valued since the military steel model didn't have it in order to conserve that material during wartime. The Bowers was not used in World War I (I've seen some nonsense about that).

"Kalamazoo Slide Sleeve (3 versions: round tube from 1930 onwards, flat/oval tube from the late 1930s with flip action, AND, during World War II, a steel version was produced due to brass shortages)."

Field rations (K-rations) invariably included a pack of 3 to 4 cigarettes (Camel, Lucky Strike...). It seems there were also black-painted models. Zippo and Bowers took the majority of the military lighter contracts (Bowers 55%). Here are different models. Mine is the one on the right (flat) from this 1952 advertisement.

Older model called Army-Navy

Origin... the patent is Austrian from the years 1925-26, and it was manufactured by the company IMCO in that country, as well as in the USA (see sources at the end). Hans Silberknopf was its creator, as seen in the document:

Bowers copied it shamelessly... this is the 1920s-30s IMCO:

Kalamazoo, Michigan. Also the birthplace of the legendary Gibson guitars.

Source: Bowers building

Regarding the restoration... I won't use Zippo rayon cotton, but rather a wick from that brand and regular cotton (preferably raw/unprocessed) well shredded.

Source: Imco, Bowers1 and Bowers2