The joke here is that this “bar ashtray” is literally a “bar ashtray.” Overseen by an Asian-looking bartender (who reminds me of the wry Japanese-American character actor Jack Soo from Barney Miller), the bar has gold-painted grooves to place cigarettes on, and an oval shaped well for the ashes to fall into. Maybe the bartender’s slightly nauseous expression is from being so close to all those butts, ashes and smoke. “Japan” is painted on the side and my guess is this is from the fifties or maybe early sixties.
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Allee Willis
Agree totally about the Jack Soo look-alike.
I’m surprised I’ve never seen anything like this before as it’s pretty obvious to combine cigarettes with drinking. I love the little gold grooves so that the cigarettes can dangle over the open bar and deposit their ashes inside.