Material Type

Artifact

Date Range From

1920

Date Range To

1930

Materials

METAL

No. Pieces

1

Height

73

Diameter

27

Description

SILVER STANDING FLOOR ASHTRAY WITH ROUND DISH AT TOP SECURED TO SILVER METAL POLE AND ROUND SILVER BASE; TOP DISH HAS SILER ORNATE HANDLE WITH LEAF AND BEADS PATTERN AND RAISED POINT IN CENTER. ROUND BASE HAS FOUR FEET; BASE ORNATELY ENGRAVED WITH FLUTED PATTERN; METAL STAND POLE FIXED TO TOP DISH WITH METAL BRACKET AND TWO SCREWS. SILVER HANDLE TARNISHED; INSIDE DISH IS TARNISHED AND WORN; UNDERSIDE OF BASE IS SOILED; EDGES OF PATTERN ON BASE ARE TARNISHED. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

HOUSEHOLD ACCESSORY

Historical Association

FURNISHINGS

History

ON AUGUST 23, 2017, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED ANDY AND JO KOCSIS REGARDING THEIR DONATION OF A STANDING, FLOOR-MODEL ASHTRAY. THE ASHTRAY WAS USED IN ANDY KOCSIS’S FATHER’S HOME, AND WAS TAKEN BY ANDY AND JO KOCSIS FOR USE IN THEIR HOME WHEN THEY MOVED. ON THE ORIGINS OF THE ASHTRAY, JO NOTED, “ALL THAT I KNOW ABOUT THEM IS THAT THEY WERE [IN MY PARENTS' HOME AT 109-7TH AVE. SOUTH] WHEN I GOT MARRIED, WHICH WAS 53-54 YEARS AGO. [WE KEPT THEM] IN THE FRONT ROOM.” ANDY ELABORATED, “THEY WERE THERE [IN THE HOME ALREADY]. MY DAD WAS THE OWNER [OF THE HOUSE]. I ALWAYS THOUGHT THEY COME WITH THE HOUSE…[THE ASHTRAY] GOT TIPPED OVER SOMEHOW, IT USED TO HAVE A [DARK BOWL].” ANDY NOTED, “I QUIT [SMOKING] WHEN I WAS THIRTY … YEARS OLD. [JO] SMOKED EVER SINCE SHE WAS SIXTEEN.” ANDY RECALLED HIS FAMILY’S HOME, STATING, “MY DAD [STEVE KOCSIS] BROUGHT US OUT FROM HUNGARY. HE OWNED THE MAYOR [CHARLES A.] MAGRATH HOUSE [AT 109-7TH AVE. SOUTH]…THAT’S HOW WE ENDED UP THERE.” “MIKE ANGYAL [THE OWNER BEFORE MY DAD] WAS A GOOD FRIEND OF HIS, ANOTHER HUNGARIAN, BIG FARMER, SO I GUESS HE HELPED THEM GET INVOLVED. WHEN [DAD] BOUGHT THE HOUSE…THE HUNGARIANS USED TO HAVE BUSINESS THERE. IT WAS A BIG EMPTY LOT AND HE SUB-DIVIDED, SO HE GOT SOME MONEY AND SOLD A BUNCH OF LOTS.” “[MY DAD MADE THEM INTO APARTMENTS BECAUSE] HE COULDN’T LIVE IN ALL OF IT SO HE GOT A BUNCH OF HUNGARIAN COAL MINERS DOWN IN THE BASEMENT. THERE [WERE] SIX OR SEVEN OF THEM. THEY ALL LIVED DOWNSTAIRS. SOME, THEIR WIVES KICKED THEM OUT.” “[IT WAS MADE INTO] FOUR SUITES. WE WERE RENTING FOR A WHILE, WE HAD GOOD TENANTS. THEN THERE WAS ONE COUPLE…THEY STOLE THE LAMP. … SO FINALLY, WE RENTED NO MORE. IT GOT SO BAD. I SAID I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANYMORE.” JO ADDED, “[THERE WERE SUITES] TWO UPSTAIRS, AND THEN THERE WAS ONE ON THE SIDE AND ONE ON THE LOWER FLOORS… MY MOTHER-IN-LAW, WHEN WE GOT MARRIED, MOM KOCSIS, SHE SAID “THIS PLACE I’M IN [IS] TOO BIG” SO SHE MOVED INTO THE SMALLER SUITE ON THE GROUND FLOOR AND WE GOT THE BIGGER SUITE. THEN IT WAS RENTED OUT, THE TOP, UNTIL, THEN THE KIDS GOT BIGGER, BECAUSE WE HAD TWO CHILDREN. THEN WE TOOK OVER THE SUITE AT THE TOP, CLOSED OFF THE KITCHEN, PUT A DOOR THERE. THEN WE HAD HALF OF THE HOUSE…THE OTHER SUITE STAYED EMPTY ‘TIL IT WAS SOLD.” WHEN ASKED ABOUT THEIR MOTIVATIONS TO DONATE THE ASHTRAY, ANDY NOTED, “[IT’S] A KIND OF REMINDER OF…THE OLD TIMES…THE OLD HUNGARIANS USED TO COME AND PLAY POKER IN THE FRONT ROOM…A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THEIR ‘50S.” JO ADDED, “WE’RE HAVING TO SELL OUR [CURRENT] HOME AND WE HAVE NO MORE USE FOR IT…WE WANT IT TO GO…[IT’S] OLD, SO WE’D LIKE [IT] TO GO SOMEWHERE. MY KIDS ARE NOT INTERESTED IN THEM, NOR ARE MY GRANDKIDS. THEY DON’T WANT THIS OLD STUFF.” FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20170028000-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20170028000

Acquisition Date

2017-08

Collection

Museum

Less detail