Enameled lighter belonging to Etta Moten Barnett

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

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.

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