- Manufactured by
- Firefly Lighter Company
- Owned by
- Barnett, Etta Moten, American, 1901 - 2004
- Date
- 1950-2004
- Medium
- metal with enamel
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 1 3/4 × 2 1/8 × 3/8 in. (4.5 × 5.4 × 1 cm)
- Description
- This is a metal and enamel lighter belonging to Etta Moten Barnett. It is a small refillable rectangular lighter with enameled scenes of San Francisco on the front and back. One side has an image of the Golden Gate Bridge across San Francisco Bay. The bridge is rendered in red enamel, the bay in bright blue. Brown hills are visible in the distance and a lighter blue sky with several white clouds are overhead. Stamped into the metal lighting apparatus above the enamel is text that reads “FIREFLY.” On the opposite side is a scene depicting a streetcar on a hill overlooking the bay. The green trolly is shown from the rear at an angle, as if descending a steep decline. There are ae small indistinct figures aboard and white scrollwork on the rear of the streetcar. A white building sits off to its right. In the background is a body of water in bright blue, with green hills in the distance. There is a red banner across the bottom with black text that reads “SAN FRANCISCO CALIF.” Stamped into the bottom of the lighter is text that reads “FIREFLY / SUPER LIGHTER.” There is a small word stamped at the end of the bottom that reads “JAPAN.”
- Place made
- Japan, Asia
- Place depicted
- San Francisco, California, United States, North and Central America
- Place used
- Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States, North and Central America
- Collection title
- Etta Moten Barnett Archive
- Classification
- Accessories and Personal Effects
- Topic
- Activism
- Actors
- Broadway Theatre
- Singers (Musicians)
- Women
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- A2022.13.1.69
- Restrictions & Rights
- Unknown – Restrictions Possible
- Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




