American smoking design part two: Promotional ashtrays

October 7, 3:58 PMDesign Trends ExaminerNeal Shaffer

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In part one of this series I took a look at matchbooks, one of a handful of once-lively design categories that's fading away as a result of crackdowns on public smoking. In part two we take the next logical step: promo ashtrays.

The main difference between the two is that where matchbooks are inherently disposable, ashtrays are the exact opposite. There's no reason for an ashtray made in 1956 to be any less useful today than it was then -- especially if it is made of glass, as most advertising ashtrays were.

But beyond that -- and in terms of relevance as design objects -- ashtrays and matchbooks are largely the same. Both offered a small but highly visible showcase for advertising art and design, and both were widely disseminated across the country in support of a range of different businesses.

As you might expect, they featured things like gorgeous typography, note-perfect design, and general beauty. They spoke on behalf of everything from the exotic to the truly bizarre. Even the mundane.

Unlike matchbooks, I found it somewhat difficult to find good examples to cite here. There are a few sets on Flickr (another one here), but nothing comprehensive. I wonder if that's because their size and weight makes them harder to collect, or if maybe there just weren't as many made. Matchbooks must have been a far more cost-effective means of promotion.

Regardess, the examples I did find were great to look at. Here's to the collectors who are keeping a lost part of American design alive.

(photo via Flickr user prima seadiva)