Ashtray

A glass ashtray

An ashtray is a receptacle for ash from cigarettes and cigars. Ashtrays are typically made of fire retardant material such as glass, heat-resistant plastic, pottery, metal, or stone.

Types

Commemorative, decorative ashtray manufactured 1935 (photo 2011)

Wall-mounted ashtray

A NID ashtray

The most common ashtray design is a shallow cylinder with a flat base, to rest on a table. Other ashtrays, particularly in public places, are wall-mounted, and larger than standard tabletop ashtrays due to the increased use they receive. Many ashtrays have notches at the rim, to hold cigarettes and/or a cigar. Frequently ashtrays were equipped in older large or luxury cars before later being available as dealer-installed accessory items. For example, cars such as the BMW E38 featured ashtrays and lighters installed in both rear doors.

History

While primitive forms of ashtrays existed way before the 19th century, it was during this century that the design, aesthetics and their popularity really took off. As more women began to smoke in the early 1900s, the ashtray inched closer to an art form of sorts. Many women avoided the use of the traditional ashtray as it failed to reflect their feminine values through an activity that was long declared as being exclusive to men. What emerged were detailed, often very fancy ashtrays. These ashtrays depicted pastoral scenes of maidens wandering through vibrantly colored landscapes. Some even featured very luxurious cast-iron models of women in fancy dresses, animals in states of play and the occasional porcelain or ceramic tray highlighting extravagant floral arrangements.

The word "ashtray" in unhyphenated form, rather than "ash tray" or "ash-tray", did not come into common use until 1926.

As time went on, and the advent of women smoking both cigars and cigarettes became less of a departure from the norm, ashtrays saw a decline in design aesthetics and more of a shift towards practicality. However, it was not uncommon to see ashtrays featuring pin-up girls in bars during this decade. It was also during this time that another trend in ashtrays began to emerge: the auto-ashtray.

While the addition of vehicle ashtrays is now becoming something of the past, there was a time when these not only came standard, they were expected. In the early years, design oversights put these ash receptacles right below the A/C and heating so every time the owner would use either of these, the ash would inadvertently fly in their face or all throughout the car. But as new models of vehicles were constantly introduced to the public, these little foibles gave way and many began to use chrome trays with covers that could be opened and closed at the driver’s discretion. Many luxury cars would make it a more luxurious design and it was not uncommon to see intricately made ashtrays in some of the high-end cars of the day. These ashtrays would feature leather, high-end metals and even specialized engravings by the manufacturer.

But, just like the stand-alone ashtray, the vehicle ashtray began to lose popularity and in 1994, vehicles began to be produced without them and instead, offer the buyer the option to include one from the dealer.

Today, ashtrays are still used for the odd cigarette smoker, but they have also been making a small revival in popularity from the cigar aficionados of the world. Cigars, unlike cigarettes require a significantly longer time to get through. On average, cigars take about 40 to 60 minutes to complete. Holding a cigar in your hand the entire time can quickly become taxing on your grip, not to mention, you will probably be engaged in some other activities at some point during that hour. To help solve this problem, cigar smokers implement a cigar ashtray to ease the burden of holding the cigar the entire time.

Contrary to what some might think, cigar ashtrays are actually quite different than their cigarette ashtray peers. Ashtrays for cigars need to provide sufficient room for the cigar to sit and not be situated at an angle or smudged down into a tight space.

See also

• Smoking culture