This wood veneer design cigarette dispenser was almost certainly made in China or Japan in the 1925-1930 period. It is for regular size cigarettes (King size introduced by Pall Mall in 1939) and pushing the bird down opens a drawer and it fetches a cigarette in its beak. The unit has a small ashtray atop the cigarette container.
Carried in the pocket - both before and after the advent of lighters - these provide a safe and convenient way of carrying matches. Match safes were VERY important because matches used to be very important as the primary means of lighting fire. See the article A Brief History of Cigarette Lighters to find out how they evolved and how dangerous they once were!
Match Safe
Push button open - Oriental lacquer finish IAK-0AC
Produced and patented by Brown & Bigelow in the mid-1950s. Push button ashes are dropped into a bottom portion of the ashtray; the top is removed for emptying. B&B made a table lighter called the Statesman that was a perfect match for this ashtray - though they were not sold together as a set. IDK-0AE
This ashtray was cut from a diesel engine piston and machined for the bowl and cigarette rests. This remainder of an aluminum piston weighs in at 3 pounds 12 ounces! Made in the late 1970s.
This ashtray is circa early 1950s and features a round holder in the center for wooden matches and two strikers for them. Marked as being made for Captain Morgan by Goldprint Potteries, Riverside Works, Wetmore Road, Burton on Trent Staffs.
Circa late 1930s - early 1940s. Center is 'Zeus' Brand; the others are Wally Frank brand. IUK-00I
Sampson's Everlasting Wick
Made from fiberglass - what a bargain! LHK-0B0
Aizu Black Lacquer Smoking Set
This beautiful wood set is finished in black lacquer. There is a cigarette box which, when opened, activates a music box and turns the pedestal on which the lighter stands. There is also an ashtray. Finished in traditional Japanese designs. LWK-0BB
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