No, I don't smoke really, and this isn't even a cigarette actually. So what is
it? Well. it's lighter, except I haven't put any fuel in recently; but I wouldn't
need to because I don't smoke! But I do like collecting unusual things around cigarettes,
more often the lighters are amazing, and here's a little collection of ashtrays - some of them
very quirky, I like them! So the cigarette just sits over there like that, or in there,
but this is a very strange ashtray because it's made of rubber; well it's made of silicon rubber,
so it's quite resistant to the heat you get out of the tip of the cigarette. Very strange - looks
like a coffee cup; sits in there and won't damage or mark the rubber, being silicon rubber quick.
It's a quirky thing to have, and I've never used it because I don't smoke; but a nice one to have
in the collection. Here's an even prettier one, an absolutely standing looking ashtray,
but actually look underneath there's a charming little rural scene with two clowns and a field
of grass; the bottom of the ashtray is that bit there, but the actual bottom of the vessel is
further down, and there's an air gap between the two; you get this charming little scene that would
adorn any drawing room. Nice one that. One of the earliest quirky ash trays I picked up was this one
here from Japan, I got this in 1986. What they actually sold was this thing here by itself;
they didn't sell the jam jar, that's me adding it in - its a little marmalade jar. That was sold as
a way of recycling jars or tins or whatever it is, because it just fits over, you fasten the screws,
and fits neatly, providing you have got the right size [of jar]. I've got it on a marmalade jar,
but you could put it over a tin or a can or a soup can, and it's a lovely way of recycling and making
good use of something. Otherwise you would have to throw it away. It makes it into a perfectly
functioning ashtray; nice one! I like the way it closes up to stop fumes from coming out. Another
very quirky ashtray which I got a little more recently is this one here, which I've got about
four or five samples of in my collection. Some of them just have little slots in, which means
they're meant for coins; one I've got has got a little magnet in it, so it's a desktop item which
holds paper clips; this one though is meant for cigarettes, you leave the cigarette in there when
you're smoking, and it's an ashtray, an elevated one! And it looks as though it has oil coming out
of a can, which is a nice little optical illusion. So a very unusual ashtray to have in the office. I
like that one. Another one which is an optical illusion and also from Japan, or at least the
original idea was Japanese, this may be a copy from the Far East, is this one here which was one
of these wonderful 'magic bank' type boxes, where instead of it being coins, it's an ashtray, so you
keep cigarettes there; but it's got a golf ball, well half a golf ball, in a sloping glass, to
give the impression it's floating in the air; but it's intended to be a very quirky ashtray for a
cigarette; a nice one. Then there's one here which is almost like a pocket ashtray, or you could use
for keeping tobacco I suppose; but it's got a very unusual mechanism for opening. The idea is to tip
your ash in there, and then close up the box; but to open it again you've got to squeeze the sides.
That's very nice. So it's a very nice elegant form of ash tray. It's all silver coloured inside,
and very beautiful. So just a little small collection of ashtrays. I did say at the beginning
that I don't smoke, which is true, but I did smoke - I gave up smoking when I was five! Well,
I should explain that I found a packet of cigarettes when I was a five-year-old;
after the war they were rationed, and a packet of cigarettes was like finding a gold coin on the
pavement; it was incredibly valuable. I took the packet back to my mother who, being a wise woman,
let me have a little puff of this treasure I had found; and I remember coughing all morning and
feeling very sick, and it was a wonderful aversion therapy. I have saved myself thousands of pounds
in taxes! The last item to show you is something you've probably very familiar with - it's one of
these wonderful rotating things, a finger fiddle; and I got it quite recently at a
summer fete where they insisted on charging ten pounds for it, and said it wasn't available for
children to buy. Why not? said I. So have a look. The answer is as well as being where spinner it's
a cigarette lighter. Look at that - isn't that beautiful... it's got a little glowing area;
it's a windproof cigarette lighter, but with a little blue LED in it; and when it runs
out of power, you plug into a little USB socket there. So that's very fine. I also
found it goes on for about two minutes, it's got extremely high-quality ball bearings in it.
So I don't smoke, but I do love finding things which smokers use, ashtrays and
lighters and what have you. I think there's some very interesting designs there. What do you think?