TOPIC: When size matters

A small one for all youn"Fin Fans!"
chicago.craigslist.org/chc/atq/d/ronson-varaflame-futura/6564571334.html

I have a small collection of old lighters - my boys were intrigued by them back when they were young and in scouts - even more so by my description of how, back in the sixties and seventies ***everybody*** smoked, and smoking accessories like fancy lighters were a perennial favorite for birthday and Christmas gift-giving. Heck, I can remember my pediatrician smoking in the exam room when I was a kid, teachers smoking in the classroom, store clerks smoking at the checkout line, etc.

I remember all those same smoking situations. My 300 pound Dr. smoking at the Dr. visit. He will probably live past 100. Now you have me thinking... where are all those lighters and ash trays. We had a kitchen cabinet dedicated to both. When company was expected, we grabbed all of that stuff and made sure every table had an ash tray and lighter. And put several on the coffee table. Don’t forget the windowsill next to the flammable curtains! Wonder if I ever breathed second hand smoke? Who didn’t back then. Cool boat lighter! It was a treat as a kid that you got to change the flint and fill the fluid.

Back in my Navy days everyone smoked, "Butt Kits" (ash trays) were made out of spent 5" shell casings. anything brass would work but had to be polished. Here's a Zippo from the ship I was on.

Ash tray came in all shapes and sizes. The old man had a floor model next to his favorite lounge chair. I still have a collection of glass trays packed up in a box somewhere.

I have a couple of these next to the fireplace - cast iron - the boxy cut-out is for a box of matches. You flip the ashtray up to dump the ashes into the big pot. When a cigarette or cigar is sitting in it, the smoke curls around the dragon's head like he's breathing fire.

I loved it when I was a kid. Still do. I keep my hats on them.

Really cool stuff guys. And if a person is old enough, who doesn’t remember watching someone pumping gas while smoking and holding their cigarette away. That dragon would make a crazy deck ornament on an SS Minnow or a small Viking or Pirate ship replica. Now I will have to go digging through Grandpa’s stuff to look for an old lighter. Don’t remember the kind of cool stuff you guys showed. Can’t believe the annual cost of smoking could buy a decent old Glassic runner.

That dragon cost more than a boat! $385 and shipping. On eBay, but the copy and paste isn't working.