Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

MATCH HOLDER/ASHTRAY

Date Range From

1920

Date Range To

1930

Materials

BRASS

No. Pieces

1

Height

6.4

Length

11.4

Description

BASE IS AN ASHTRAY. HAS CIGARETTE STAIN ON IT. MATCH HOLDER IS GROOVED. BASE IS SQUARE WITH BENT CORNERS TO HOLD CIGARETTES. MATCH HOLDER IS A CUP HELD IN CENTER OF TRAY WITH A SCREW. SCREW COMES UP THROUGH BOTTOM AND IS CORRODED SLIGHTLY. SLIGHT CORROSION ON BASE.

Subjects

HOUSEHOLD ACCESSORY

Historical Association

DOMESTIC

History

**UPDATE 20 SEPTEMBER 2013: FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE VAN HORNE FAMILY, PLEASE SEE THE ELECTRONIC AND PERMANENT FILES OF DONATIONS P19672878000 AND P19651981000. REFERENCED FILES INCLUDE A TRANSCRIPTION OF AN ORAL INTERVIEW CONDUCTED BY THE VAN HORNE’S GRANDDAUGHTER MIRIAM SMITH IN 2012. **UPDATE 7 APRIL 2020: GALT COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT ELISE PUNDYK CONDUCTED A RELEVANCY AUDIT OF THE MUSEUM’S ASHTRAY COLLECTION, INCL. AN EXAMPLE DONATED BY RENE CRIGHTON (NEE VAN HORNE). THE AUDIT LED PUNDYK TO INTERVIEW MS. MIRIAM SMITH, RENE CRIGHTON’S DAUGHTER, ON 11 OCTOBER 2018 TO LEARN IF SHE HAD SPECIFIC MEMORIES OF THE ASHTRAY AS WELL AS SEVERAL OTHER OBJECTS DONATED BY RENE ON HER MATERNAL FAMILY’S BEHALF. WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE ARTIFACT, MIRIAM SMITH SAID, “I EVEN SEE THE PLACE FOR THE CIGARETTES AND CIGARS, AND THAT POSSIBLY COULD HAVE COME FROM GRANDPA VAN HORNE’S PLACE, BECAUSE HE WAS A CIGAR SMOKER. HE SMOKED WHITE OWLS, AND IT LOOKS LIKE A WHITE OWL WOULD SIT THERE PRETTY GOOD, IF YOU SMOKED THEM. YEAH [HE SMOKED THEM OFTEN]. WELL, IN THOSE DAYS, EVERYBODY SMOKED. IF YOU DIDN’T SMOKE, YOU WEREN’T ANYBODY.” “WELL, HE ALWAYS SMOKED WHITE OWL’S. AND, WHEN HE WAS A YOUNG MAN, HE WAS OUT WITH HIS BROTHERS, AND THERE WAS AN ACCIDENT, AND WHATEVER STARTED ON FIRE, AND HE PUT HIS HAND IN TO SAVE THE – PULL THE BROTHER OUT, AND HIS HAND WAS BADLY DEFORMED. IT WAS LIKE THIS, AND WHEN WE SAW HIS HAND, WHEN WE WERE LITTLE KIDS, WE WERE KIND OF SCARED, BECAUSE IT WAS A PRETTY TOUGH OLD HAND. BUT, HIS HAND WAS BADLY BURNED, AND, AT THAT TIME, I REMEMBER MY MOM TELLING ME ABOUT SITTING WATCHING, WHEN THEY BANDAGED IT AND PUT SOMETHING ON IT, AND IT STUCK, AND THEY HAD TO PICK IT ALL OFF, BUT HIS HAND WAS BADLY DEFORMED. IT WAS ALMOST LIKE A CLAW, BUT HE USED TO TRY AND HOLD A CIGAR IN THERE.” THE INTERVIEW AND A FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW CAN BE FOUND IN THE PERMANENT FILE P19672867000.

Catalogue Number

P19780033000

Acquisition Date

1967-09

Collection

Museum

Less detail