Douglass also patented inventions in other fields. In 1924 he invented a new type of snap cigarette lighter with a trigger-released spring actuator. One of Douglass' sons left his position with the Victor Talking Machine Company to start the Douglass Lighter Company in San Francisco. In 1935, two of Douglass’ daughters died, one in a car accident and the other in childbirth, and Douglass retired and he and his wife moved out of Victoria Manor into a small cottage nearby. He died in San Francisco at the age of 71.