Vintage Smoking Paraphernalia

I’m not a smoker. I did grow up in a time where everyone smoked, anywhere and at any time. Everyone had an ashtray in their house whether they smoked or not because a guest might smoke. It  was considered good manners to have a nice ashtray for their convenience. Today we are so concerned about second hand smoke (and rightly so) that smoking around others is considered bad manners, rude and thoughtless. But it was just the opposite when I grew up. It was considered bad manners, rude and thoughtless not to allow someone to smoke in your house or car and you provided what they needed to practice their habit. One of the first things I bought when I got married in 1977 was an ashtray. Stan smoked the first year we were married and very heavily. Most of his family also smoked (they stopped except for two and, unfortunately, both died at the young age of 56, one of COPD and the other of lung cancer). So I thought it was good to have an ashtray.

We were just finding out that cigarettes, and other tobacco products, cause cancer and I remember being very afraid for my Aunt who smoked incessantly. But I loved her so much and we have such good memories of her. When we stayed with her she would have a cup of coffee, a cigarette and her sewing machine going. She would whistle or hum while she worked and we would play around her. So cigarette smoke brings some memories up in me and sometimes I will indulge in a cigarette just to feel nostalgic. But that’s pretty rare as I know how bad it is for me.

My Great Grandmother and one of my Grandfathers used snuff. My Dad experimented with making cigarettes (tobacco and cigarette papers), a pipe, a cigar in the 1950’s and early 1960’s. But he never developed the habit thank God. But I do have some vague memories of him making cigarettes and having a pipe.

Today, we really have no excuse for picking up the habits of tobacco knowing how bad it is for us. It’s no longer a mystery. There is the absolute guarantee that smoking, chewing tobacco, taking snuff will harm us physically one way or another. If you indulge, you are doing so with the full knowledge that you are harming yourself. There is no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It has been proven scientifically, and historically, to harm us one way or the other. So I do NOT share this in hopes of anyone picking up the tobacco habits. It was just a part of my life growing up.

 A tobacco pouch with a section for holding cigarette papers.

I have a friend that rehabs old pipes! I never even thought of that as a hobby until he shared it. He fixes, repairs and otherwise brings old pipes back to life and sells them! He does an excellent job.

An ash pan for sweeping up ashes and crumbs off the table top.

A pipe stand

Cigarette holders

Floor stands like this would hold cigarettes, ashtrays, a lighter, maybe other paraphernalia, a pipe stand, etc. All of this was for the convenience of anyone in a room, guest or family members. Going around every day and emptying ashtrays, cleaning them, re-filling lighters with lighter fluid, re-stocking smoking supplies was part of a housewife’s daily routine.

A table top holder for cigarettes.

This is a matching smoking set for a lady. You would generally have a box or canister for holding cigarettes, a lighter and an ashtray.

Here is another floor stand. It was plugged in and gave a nightlight as well as an electric lighter. It looks like a microphone. It would heat up a coil so you could light up your cigarette much like car cigarette lights.

An electric cigarette lighter.

A monogramed silver snuff box with spoon.

Many floor stand ashtrays were for moving about. You could pick it up and move it from chair to sofa, or room to room. That way you only had to clean one ashtray per day, LOL!

My Mother had one of these for guests.

A long cigarette holder in case.

A monogramed silver cigarette box

This holds multiple pipes and pipe tobacco

A long cigarette holder with it’s own snap bag

A very fancy snuff box

Cigarette cases that you kept in your purse or pocket

Individual ashtrays. The hostess could carry them in using the neck of the swan and distribute the mini ashtrays. If you had card parties where guests are fairly stationary (as at the card table), this was ideal.

In boxes like these, you didn’t remove the cigarettes from their package, you just stuck the whole cigarette box in the box cover or container.

This set can serve as a pipe rest or an ashtray. The pot can store cigarettes or tobacco.

Another electric lighter.

Snuff box for carrying in your purse or pocket

Pipe rest or ashtray

Larger lighter

A cigarette box and individual ashtrays

A portable pipe stand or pipe rest.

Novelty cigarette box

A telescoping cigarette holder

An electric cigarette lighter

Notice the lighter builtin to the handle?

An onyx ashtray with electric lighter

An electric cigarette lighter

A fancy matchbox for lighting cigarettes via match.

Ashtrays for those card parties

Pipe and tobacco pouches

How loose tobacco came