This is the most disturbing ashtray I have ever seen. If nothing else makes you quit smoking, this will. Misshapen rubber dog lifting his leg on your cigarettes, tourist trap photo underneath (Tree House, Redwood Hwy. CA), gift shop quality redwood souvenir craftsmanship.
And to think a redwood gave its life for this creation.
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Allee Willis
First of all, I’d like to thank you for including the detail shot. I want to encourage all aKitschionados to do the same so that the impact of what you describe in text comes across more. I love detail shots.
Second, I had that rubber dog in my youth. You could stretch his parts. He was also a totally mass-produced item. Does it actually say that this is a souvenir from the Treehouse anywhere on the item itself or does it only say that on the postcard? If the latter, does it say anything on the bottom of the ashtray? And is the text written on it six separate decals? it’s bizarre that it’s not one long one. It has a handmade quality to it yet still looks like a prototypical souvenir that would have been in the gift shop that is this tree.
Cheetah Velour
Yup, the rubber dog is a bendy! I had a blue one as a kid.
Thanks, Allee! You’ve encouraged me to inspect this a little more closely. I was so excited about this find, I snapped it up in a heartbeat and didn’t even get a chance to really look at it. I was afraid someone might wake me up fom my dream!
The bottom of the plaque is stamped ‘Tree House Redwood Hwy., Cal’. The picture under the ashtray is sloppily cut from a real postcard and just plopped down into the hole- no glue or anything. The ashtray is plain clear glass like you might find in a bar (well, not in CA anymore).
I think the decal may be one long one. It’s sealed really well under the varnish, I can’t see any ridges.
I scour the gift shops for treausres like these, but they just don’t make ’em like this anymore.