Deborah Shinn, curator of applied arts at Cooper-Hewitt, told The New York Times: "It seems they are becoming relics of the twentieth century and may not live on into the twenty-first. Such observations merely stoke the fires of budding collectors' zeal. Bob Strong, owner of Rescued Estates, an antiques and collectibles store in New York City, told The Wall Street Journal: "It's just like the stock market--as soon as collectors even sniff something won't be available or is in the news, they jump.
Sales of all sorts of old tobacco paraphernalia are picking up. Tony Hyman, author of Handbook of Cigar Boxes, The World of Smoking and Tobacco, and other books on collectibles, believes that the number of ashtray collectors appears to be growing rapidly, judging by the voluminous response he received when he advertised in The Ashtray Journal, a now-defunct periodical. Although the supply of ashtrays seems bottomless, Hyman writes, "once that was said about a lot of other things that you can't find any more.
It contains illustrations of more than 2, ashtrays in every conceivable variety, with price estimates for each. Wanvig was bitten by the ashtray bug around , when she went to the Milwaukee Antique Center to sell a sterling-silver cigarette case. Here she met the center's owner, Gary John Gresl, who casually mentioned that smoking accessories were poised to become extremely collectible. Also, they would increase in value over time. What Wanvig discovered on her quest to become the ashtray queen was that while most antiques dealers and flea market entrepreneurs sold ashtrays, little was known about the ashtrays or their manufacturers.
So she spent nearly two years in the Milwaukee Public Library, learning all she could about pottery companies, glassmakers, metalsmiths, advertising companies and retailers. She also immersed herself in the history of smoking. Soon she created a computerized database to compile the prices asked--and paid--for old ashtrays. In a few instances, she came up with different prices for the same ashtray.
In Wanvig's book, the prices listed represent the average for each ashtray, once she eliminated unconscionably high or abnormally low prices. In his review of her book, Tony Hyman judged Wanvig's pricing of the ashtrays consistent with his own experience, although he considers the prices for the "plain ones" a bit high. Wanvig classifies ashtrays by the materials from which they are made: glass, metal, marble, ceramic, and so on; by the period in which they were produced: Art Nouveau, Art Deco, the s, etc.
These include ashtrays in the form of animals, shoes, hats, household fixtures--just about anything you can imagine even bathtubs, toilets and bedpans. Although some ashtrays, featuring mini-cigar holders and wide cigar rests, clearly were intended for use by cigar smokers, others were made only for cigarettes.
The latter type may feature "snufferettes"--little holes into which a cigarette can be snuffed out--or cigarette-dispensing mechanisms. The majority of ashtrays, however, were designed to accommodate cigars, cigarettes or pipes. Yet, ashtrays need not be made only by ashtray manufacturers.
Many have been crafted by some of the most famous names in fine personal and household accessories. Ashtrays have been created out of every sort of material, from precious metals such as sterling silver to brass, bronze, copper, chrome, aluminum, lead, enamel, pewter, glass, ceramic, porcelain, soapstone, chalkware, wood and plastic. Ashtrays from some legendary, long-gone New York and Hollywood nightspots and eateries seem quite reasonable. The oldest ashtrays in Wanvig's collection date from the s--about the time the word "ashtray" itself entered the lexicon.
Her research indicates that the entry "ash pan" first appeared in an English dictionary and was defined as a small receptacle for tobacco ashes. Usually these ash pans were shaped like a cup and had no rests for cigars. Thirty years later, a subsequent edition of the same dictionary referred to an ash pan as an "ash-tray," and the word thus became part of our language.
Winston Churchill used just such an s ashtray-- small, with no cigar rests--in London's underground War Rooms during the Battle of Britain. Other sources suggest ashtrays existed long before the English word for them was commonly used. He is leaning on a cane, tipping his top hat the brim of which serves as a cigarette or small cigar rest , and standing beside a round container for holding additional smokes.
As ashtrays became more popular, they began to reflect the fashionable style of the day, be it the ornate, s elegance of the Victorian era, the undulating lines of early s Art Nouveau, or the brisk Art Deco of the s and s. With the recent restrictions on smoking, however, demand for ashtrays has declined. Many companies that once made them switched to other products or went out of business. Consequently, "the interesting advertising and lovely ashtrays from the first half of the twentieth century are no longer being made," Wanvig writes.
These include various high-quality glass ashtrays produced by Newark, Ohio-based Heisey and Co. Ancient Greek version of a screaming Spartan warrior. Finding it much to his liking he arranged for ample supplies. To contain the ash and stubs, the first known ashtray of sorts was invented. Since then the ashtray has lived among us. There once was a time when ashtrays were an essential element of nearly every home and business in the entire world.
Ashtrays from the past were designed with quality, form and function ideals. They were decorated in every possible decor imaginable, and elevated to an art form by the major designers of the eras.
Most ashtrays from yesteryear were made by hand of quality durable materials. As a part of everyday life they were used as decor focal points, admired for creative qualities, given as gifts and kept as mementos. That is why we need ashtrays. However, in a world where smoking is increasingly under siege, top-quality ashtrays, especially for cigars, are harder and harder to find.
Bur not every manufacturer has forgotten its cigar-smoking clientele. The history of ashtrays is far shorter than the history of smoking. The first examples probably date from the early 19th century, and ashtrays were in common use by the late Victorian period. By the early part of the 20th century, ashtray design had evolved to provide models of various scales for all smoking habits. These were often combined with devices for holding cigars, cigarettes or other smoking paraphernalia, including lighters, cutters and pipes.
The years immediately following the First World War saw a distinct rise in the popularity of smoking among women, particularly the young flapper generation, who began to enjoy many of the pursuits and pleasures previously limited to the male domain. Several manufacturers capitalized on this trend by designing ashtrays of a delicate, dainty and distinctly feminine nature, which are among the most appealing and collectible ashtrays today.
As if in assertive contrast, ashtrays of this vintage designed for men tend to be large, solid and made of materials that symbolize power and stability, such as marble and bronze.
There is a clear distinction in this era between cigarette and cigar ashtrays, with the latter clearly designed for masculine appeal. Throughout the history of ashtray design, glass has been the manufacturer's favorite material. Glass, particularly when it is of crystal or high-lead-content type, has all the essential properties of a successful ash receiver: it is easily cleaned, durable and not subject to stains, owing to its impervious nature.
Furthermore, the refractory nature of glass which has been subjected to temperatures usually in excess of 1, degrees Celsius , makes it entirely resistant to a burning tip, and glass ashtrays can be included as ornamental accessories in any interior. The modern cigar smoker is faced with fewer choices of glass ashtrays than smokers a generation ago, when ashtrays the size of manhole covers were strategically placed wherever cigars were smoked, from the boardroom to the boudoir.
Tom McInerney, vice president of marketing for Waterford Crystal, explains: "Waterford's limited assortment of ashtrays is strictly volume-related. These items have not been in demand in our market for quite some time.
Since it is expensive to introduce new crystal designs, we prefer to develop our more profitable product categories. Steuben, the country's most prestigious glass manufacturer, has just discontinued its one remaining ashtray. As with Waterford, Steuben has not been successful in recent years with smoking-related accessories. The following is our sampling, with manufacturers listed alphabetically:.
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