Smokers' Items, Part IV
by Mark A. Nye
Issue No. 257 - September 1994
On August 1, 1940, Cambridge issued a revised index to the January 1940 catalog. This index included references to pages not in the original catalog. Sometimes the additional pages were numbered in numerical order. At other times, Cambridge found it necessary to add a letter suffix to the existing number of the preceding page. The latter occurred in the Smokers' Items section. Issued between January 1940 and August 1940 was one new page with the number 426A. Sometime later, possibly in early 1941, another new page, this one designated 426B, was issued.
Most of the items on these pages were new ones; that is, they had not appeared in previous catalogs and were placed in production shortly before the issuance of the new pages. Previously seen items are the P.721 ash tray and the 1456 ash tray.
Two ash trays, Pristine 717 and Pristine 716 appear for the first time on a page captioned "MISCELLANEOUS" issued in June 1941.
A supplemental page to the 1940 price list says the items on page 426A came in Crystal only. No price list for page 426B is known nor is one for the June 1941 Miscellaneous page. However, the items on these two pages were probably not made in color.
The balance of this article consists of the mold order log book entries for many of the items seen on the two Smokers' Items pages.
"Pristine 726 - 5 inch star ash tray approximately the size of the #3 star candlestick. With groove on each point to hold cigarette. Make plaster model."
"Pristine 729 - 4 inch ash tray. Make new ring and plunger to fit 388 ash tray. Sides to be 1/8" thicker. To be made with four cigar rests with three cigarette rests between the cigar rests. Depth of cigarette rests to be half the thickness of a cigarette."
"1625 - 1-3/4 inch cigarette lighter. Make new plunger and bottom plate for the #6 1-3/4 inch lamp break ball mold to fit metal cigarette lighter. Two molds."
"1626 - 1-3/4 inch cigarette lighter. Make new plunger and bottom plate for the #1 1-3/4 inch lamp break ball mold to fit metal cigarette lighter. Two molds."
"Pristine 731 - 6-1/2 inch star ash tray, as per wood model. Cigar rests to be shallow like the one filled in with modelers wax."
"1720 - 3 inch ash tray, made from the 1457 - 3 inch 2 compartment. Change the 1457 plunger to make a grooved partition to serve as cigarette rest."
"1721 - 4 inch ash tray, 4 compartment. Make from the 1458 - 4 inch. Change the 1458 plunger to make 4 partitions to act as cigarette rests."
"Pristine 716 - 5 inch oval ash tray. 4 cigar rests. Make from old 127 oval. Remove star from bottom and make plain ring bottom. Get mold into shop and see Mr. Orme for height." Author's Note: While there is no other entry for this item, the final product as seen in the catalog is combined ash tray and cigarette lighter. One of the cigar rests was replaced with a hole for a metal lighter. Therefore the mold was different from what this entry states.
"Pristine 717 - 4-3/4 inch round ash tray. Make from the old #32 ash tray. (4 cigar rests as is.) Remove star from bottom and make plain ring bottom. Plunger to be made square. See Mr. Orme."
"Pristine 745 - 3-3/4 inch by 4-3/4 inch by 1-3/4 inch deep cigarette box and cover, like model. Bead around bottom edge. Interior of box to be rounded. See W. L. Orme. [Deadline January 1941]"
"Pristine 746 - 5-1/2 inch oval cigarette box and cover. Like plaster model. [Deadline January 1941]"
"1676 eagle ash tray. New plunger for the #730 ash tray with raised place in the center to stick the eagle figure."
"Mount Vernon #69 cigarette box and cover, like plaster model."
"Pristine 736 - 7 inch star ash tray. Make new ring with cigarette rests to fit the #308 candy box bottom. See cut sample. See Orme for depth of rests."
"Mount Vernon 71 - 6 inch oval ash tray. Note: Make new ring with four cigarette rests to fit the Mount Vernon 69 cigarette box."
These entries cover the period from October 1939 for the first to February 1941 for the last.
