It began with one – The lighter quest

Jan-Hendrik van der Merwe, commonly known as Faan, has been collecting lighters for almost 50 years.

The 71-year-old Mr van der Merwe began his quest in the mid-sixties.

“My brother gave me a lighter with an image of the Voortrekker Monument printed on it; I remember thinking to myself there must be other interesting lighters out there. It became the first lighter in my collection,” he reminisced.

Amassing a collection of close to 900 lighters, most of which are still functional, his collection boasts pieces from all over the world. “I have been collecting for a long time. I have lighters from at least 10 different countries,” he said.

“Every one of these lighters has a different meaning to me. I remember where I got most of them or who gave them to me.”

Mr van der Merwe appreciates the contribution of all the people who have helped him over the years. Friends, family and even people he has never known have helped him add to his prized collection.

“I came home one day and found a lighter addressed to me. I asked who it was from but no one knew; all they said was a woman had dropped it off. To this day I don’t know who she was,” he recalled.

Running out of storage space for his ever-growing collection, he plans to arrange some of the lighters in his collection to depict the South African flags, both old and new.

Anyone wishing to add to Mr van der Merwe’s collection can contact him on 072 468 3752 and he will arrange to have it collected.