Rerun: Ashtrays (orig. 01/28/08)

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Clik here to view. John Ashbery on Frank O'Hara's ashtray
'I first read Frank O'Hara's poem 'Memorial Day 1950' in the summer of 1950 (I assume it had been written on Memorial Day of that year), on a trip to visit Frank in Boston. He was staying in a house on the back of Beacon Hill that belonged to his friend Cervin ("Cerv") Robinson's family, who were away. I had graduated from Harvard in 1949 and was living in New York. Frank, though a year older than I, graduated in 1950 since he had spent two years in the Navy during the war. I was missing him and Boston, and I remember our going to lots of movies ("Panic in the Streets" and Olivier's "Hamlet" among them) and drinking zombies (a newly invented drink, I think) at a bar near the State House. I too stayed at the Robinsons' and remember admiring Frank's room for the kind of Spartan chic he always managed to create around him. The room looked out on a courtyard of trees and was practically bare except for an army cot and blanket and a frying pan on the floor, used as an ashtray, an idea he got from George Montgomery, a sort of arbiter of Spartan chic who had been at Harvard with us. Hence, no doubt, the line: "How many trees and frying pans I've loved and lost."'

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Clik here to view. Cheetah Club Ashtray
'Located on Broadway and 53rd Street in a building that had once housed one of New York's grand turn-of-the-century ballrooms, The Cheetah opened in April 1966 as a sophisticated nightspot with spotted fur wallpaper, inspired by the era's French discotheques. Cheetah became a jet-set watering hole holding sway in the ranks of Le Club and Arthur.  During its late 1960s limelight, the Cheetah was reconfigured as a rock concert venue, hosting shows by many of the period's hippest acts including the newly electric Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, the Velvet Underground, and countless others.'

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Clik here to view. Captain Beefheart's 'Ashtray Heart'
'You used me like an ashtray heart / Case of the punks / Right from the start / I feel like a glass shrimp in a pink panty / With a saccharine chaperone / Make invalids out of supermen / Call in a "shrink" / And pick you up in a girdle / You used me like an ashtray heart / Right from the start / Case of the punks / Another day, another way / Somebody's had too much to think / Open up another case of the punks / Each pillow is touted like a rock / The mother / father figure / Somebody's had too much to think / Send your mother home your navel / Case of the punks ...' (Watch and listen)

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Clik here to view. Artificial Intelligence Ashtray
'In 1959, Massachusetts Institute of Technology´s Servomechanisms Laboratory demonstrated computer-assisted manufacturing for the first time in history. The school´s Automatically Programmed Tools project created a language, APT, used to instruct milling machine operations. At the demonstration for scientists, reporters, and employees of the Labratory, the machine produced an ashtray for each attendee.'

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Clik here to view. Rare Nazi Ashtray
'Nazi Bronze Ash Tray featuring relief images of Adolf Hitler, German Oak leaves, and the Reichs-Eagle inscribed with the date 1939. The ashtray was issued as a limited edition item for higher ups in the Nazi government.  In historical photographs of the period, it can be clearly seen in the offices of Hitler, Himmler, and other officials as well as on the tables at most official dinner parties and social engagements.  Rare piece. Measures: 4 by 4 1/2 inches. Weight: 11 oz. Great condition.'

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Clik here to view. Plastic Ashtray
'The late 90s and first few years of the 00s aren't generally seen as a particularly exciting time for British rock music, at least by the popular press anyway. Britpop was dead and the superclub was king. Most of the bands of that period only lasted for a few singles, others for a few albums. One of those bands were the quite lovely Urusei Yatsura. They were a Glasgow lo-fi indie three-piece much in the style of GBV and Sebadoh who released three albums and a myriad of singles from 1994-2001. After being bought to the attention of John Peel, they soon became a cult favourite for a small generation of indie fans weaned on shoddy 7" sleeves and Steve Lamacq. They never had anything close to a hit, although their wonderful masterpiece of a 1995 7" single 'Plastic Ashtray' could have been.'

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Clik here to view. Is Kissing a Girl Who Smokes Like Licking an Ashtray?
'Meet Biff: weird, wild-haired, recovering pinball addict. He's eighteen but looks more like fourteen, and it drives him crazy. He's never had a girlfriend, can't talk to girls without freezing up, and isn't quite sure about the human race in general. Biff's immediate concern, however, is Tommie, the girl he's had a crush on for the past twenty-three months. Maybe it's about time he got up the nerve to say more to her than "Hi." Then Biff meets Heidi: beautiful, smart-mouthed, cigarette smoker. She's here visiting her aunt in Seattle because she's been suspended from her high school for who-knows-what reason. Biff has never found himself getting such a kick out of being with someone, even though she often drives him crazy. This is the romantic, comic story of two quirky, imperfect people who couldn't possibly fit into each other's lives, but do, sort of.'

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Clik here to view. Tanuki Ashtray
'The Japanese have long used the image of the Tanuki as a symbol of the dangers of overindulgence in alcohol. A famous and very commonly seen type of Tanuki statue features a pot-bellied male specimen standing on two feet with an empty purse in one hand and an empty jug of sake in the other. The animals genitals are distinctly visible with a rather shrunken penis and grotesquely swollen testes. The message behind this curious image is that an excess of sake will leave one with an empty purse and full libido yet diminished ability to perform. Perhaps this story explains why Tanuki statues are a common sight at the entrance to many Japanese bars and nightclubs.'

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Clik here to view. Damaged airplane seat ashray
'To provide a traveler with internet access on an aircraft, an internet interface device is needed. However, the electronic equipment configuration in the passenger seats is certified as part of a sophisticated seat certification process. The vast majority of modifications and additions to seat-based electronic equipment requires re-certification of the seats. This process can be costly and time consuming. Further, the removal and re-installation of aircraft seats to effect the modification and/or addition is also time-consuming. As such, airline customers are sometimes reluctant to accept any seat modifications. Accordingly, it would be desirable to utilize the ashtray receptacle commonly located within an aircraft seat arm as an internet interface receptacle location. Since smoking on most commercial aircraft flights has been banned, this change will not effect travel.'

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Clik here to view. Leon Trotsky on Mayakovsky's ashtray
'Mayakovsky’s weighty images, though frequently splendid, quite often disintegrate the whole, and paralyze the action. The 150 Million was supposed to be the poem of the Revolution. But it is not. The whole of this work, which is big in its design, is devoured by the weakness and defects of Futurism. The poem is profoundly personal and individualistic, and in the bad sense of the term. It contains too much purposeless arbitrariness of art. The author plays the strong man, catching and throwing about one image and then another. “We shall finish you, romanticist world!” Mayakovsky threatens. That is right. One has to put an end to the romanticism of Oblomov and of Tolstoi’s Karataiev. But how? “He is old – kill him and make an ashtray of his skull.” But this is the most real and most negative romanticism! Ashtrays made of skulls are inconvenient and unhygienic. And its savagery is after all ... meaningless? By making such an unnatural use of the skull bones, the poet becomes caught in romanticism; at any rate, he has not worked out his images, nor has he unified them.'

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Clik here to view. Stomp
'Why do people insist on ignoring ashtrays? All those butts on your floor after a party? Give them an ashtray to stomp them out. put out the cigarette as if you were squashing it with your own foot in this Foot Ashtray! Can also be used to place small items or as a paper weight. 5.9 x 3.7 x 1.3" Base/Mortar, Casing/Steel. made in japan. $50.24'

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Clik here to view. Kinks Lowbudget Ashtray
'These great rock 'n' roll ashtrays also double as incense burners! But wait! These ashtrays are not just for ashes - They're ART for your desk OR your wall! Comes with a small notch on back for wall hanging! They messure about 6" wide and 1" tall. Other rock ART ashtrays include Guns 'n' Roses, Misfits. Ozzy, Slipknot, Scarface, and dozens of others. Visit our showroom!'

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Clik here to view. Human Ashtray
'The submissive can be used as a human ashtray in several ways. The mildest form is to make the sub hold an ashtray or place it on his or her body. This can be very effective in a service scene or party, for instance, where you can order the sub to follow you around with the ashtray and catch each bit of ash as it drops from your cigarette. You can also use the sub's body as an ashtray, flicking ash into their cupped hands, the hollow of their back or stomach, or anywhere else that makes a convenient receptacle. The ultimate form of ashtray service involves using the submissive's mouth as your ashtray. You may choose to use your human ashtray for ash only, stamping out your cigarette in a real ashtray. Depending on the level of pain and marking agreed on in your scene, however, you may also choose to stub out your cigarette on your submissive or in his or her mouth. Some dominants also use the cigarette throughout the scene to produce burns on the submissive. If you are well practiced, you can hold the cigarette close enough to the skin to produce high heat but not actually cause a burn.'

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Clik here to view. 'If Nancy was an ashtray' by Joe Brainard
"If Nancy Was," 20 mixed media works by the late artist and poet Joe Brainard based on the theme of Ernie Bushmiller's comix character Nancy, was on view at the Fischbach Gallery, April 19-May 19, 2007. Fischbach Gallery, 210 Eleventh Avenue at 25th St., New York City, (212) 759-2345.

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Clik here to view. Klop Filtering Ashtray
'Klop is a filtering ashtray, using plant leaves. It’s can be also an object to measure the cigarette smoke effect on smoker environment, the more your smoke, the more the plant is sick, made of ceramics and recyled plastics. Created in 2005. Designer: Grégoire Vandenbussche. Made in: France.'

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Clik here to view. Peter O'Toole's ashtray
'Actor John Goodman tells a story of some advice he received from his fellow legendary actor Peter O'Toole while making the movie King Ralph in 1991. During a break in filming, Goodman, in awe of the British thespian, asked to borrow an ashtray. O'Toole, with characteristic flair, flicked his ash on the floor and declared: "Make the world your ashtray, my boy."'

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Clik here to view. Horse's Hoof Ashtray
'The hoof used to make this ashtray was taken from Kitty, the charger used by Major General Sir P.R. Robertson during the First World War. The horse’s name is inscribed on the silver plate on the front of the hoof, and on the top is an outline of Robertson’s service history with the regiment. He took the 1st Battalion to France in 1914, then commanded the 19th Infantry Brigade, 17th Division and VII Corps before commanding the 52nd (Lowland) Division from 1919 to 1923. The hoof would have been taken from the horse after its death in order to make this souvenir, a practice which was particularly popular during Victorian times. Although it seems like quite a gruesome way to commemorate an animal, it was not uncommon for horses’ hooves to be used for ashtrays, snuff boxes or inkwells. This way, officers could take a memento of their military service into everyday life.'