Matching pair of silver-plated table lighters personally-owned and -used by Lyndon and Lady Byrd Johnson, measuring 3 x 2.25 x 1.75, manufactured by Ronson, one engraved “Lyndon” on the top and the other engraved “Lady Bird.” President Johnson’s lighter is a dark metallic gray, and Lady Bird’s is decorated in worn and faded pink paint. Includes a detailed letter of provenance on White House letterhead from the wife of Melvon O. Carter, who had worked on the White House maintenance crew from the time of Presidents Hoover through Nixon. During Mr. Carter’s over 40 years of White House service, he was often in close proximity to the first family and was called upon for a variety of tasks. In part: “The pair of silver plated table lighters were owned by President Lyndon B. Johnson and First Lady (Lady Bird) Johnson. They were given to my husband by the First Lady shortly before they left the White House in December 1968. The Johnson Family was packing to get ready for their return to the LBJ-Ranch…Each silver plated lighter is engraved. One says Lyndon and the other says, Lady Bird. On the bottom of Mrs. Johnson’s lighter it is marked WH 3389. Both lighters are made by Ronson. The Presidents lighter reads Ronson U. S. Patre No. 19,023 on the bottom. These are personal possessions of the President and First Lady.” From the Raleigh DeGeer Amyx Collection.
