What the hell is that thing?

could the curvy part be an inset for a glass or cup maybe? Your combo ashtray/coaster type thing?

Maybe the cigaret holder is a spoon handle holder, the inset a sauce/salsa/dip bowl holder and the other a place for a basket of bread type thing like corn chips or bagette slices.

Could the "appears to be a cigarette holder" be a spoon or knife rest? Looks like a dip and cracker plate with a little side area to rest the spreading knife but...

It certainly could be for a spoon or a knife if they had really skinny handles. A pencil fits in there almost perfectly.

I bought 6 of them thinking they'd make great little dishes for tempura or sushi with a sauce area, or crudite and dips.

I didn't notice the little holder part until Mo pointed out that the dish was "broken". So I looked at the others and they all have that dip in the corner.

eoe- the other inset could certainly fit a highball (don't you love that word) glass -- one of those squarish ones with the rounded edges. But then what is the other part for? A snack?

It must be some kind of serving dish (note the handles).

Something about the dimensions of it make me think of airplanes. it is very close to the little plastic trays they bring you now (if they still do that these days).

ah - sushi plate makes sense. The little holder could be for chopsticks, the well could be for soy sauce, and the rest could hold the sushi.

Are the overall dimensions for individual serving or group serving?

edit: just noticed the overall dimensions in your original photo. It could be a very fancy sushi plate.

Individual servings, I'd think.

But the section isn't really long enough to hold chopsticks. Maybe if the divot went the other way so the sticks would balance over the inset but the way it is, chopsticks would just tumble off.

It's a snack plate, and it probably had a matching cup that fit in the curvy area. The little ridge is so you can carry the plate without the cup sliding around.

Snack plates like this have been around for a long time. Yours may have been made in the Depression years - my mom had some similar. If they're Depression, they were probably giveaways (at the movies maybe?) They're not Asian at all...

The indentation is not a place for a cigarette. Could it be a place to put your thumb to carry the dish?

A snack plate makes sense but the thumb thing does not. Unless people had weird thumbs during the depression.....

It has those little handles on each side for carrying it around and if you use those you have to twist your thumb into a strange, unnatural position.

Oh! And I didn't think they were Asian -- I intend to use them for such foods though.

Ha! Found it!

"These are the 1950 Colonial Lady ServASnack Trays.
Some people say that they are by Imperial Candlewick and others say that they are by Hazel Atlas.
The sections are an ashtray, drink holder and snack area. Each tray measures 11 inches x 6 inches including handles.
The cups have the candlewick feature on the handle and squared bottom. They measures 2-1/2 inches tall x 2-3/4 across.
I have 10 plates with cups available. These sets are in great condition with no discernable signs of wear."


Ebay page

Wow, caribou! Thanks.

It really is an ashtray. Smoking and drinking and snacking! I probably would have love the 50s. Missed it by 10 damn months.

They sure liked their smokes back then...

Oh, and Wy deserves credit for saying "snack tray".

Just the thought of smashed up cigarettes next to food makes me lose my appetite. Boomer, maybe a single chopstick would fit into the groove.

Forget tempura, man. I'm gonna load those up with saltines, vienna sausages and velvetta with a side of mentholateds and a stiff shot of scotch.

Who wants to party!?

Oh jeeez -- major flashback -- Vienna sausages, aka vII-EEners (rhymes with weiners) if your from the south.

Pam, you got any vII-EEners in here? I'm starved.

Shoot.

Lol!!!


I smoked menthols very briefly, and I can recall a man I was living with at the time saying disgustedly:

"How can you smoke those things!!!??? If I die of lung cancer so be it...but I'm damned if I'll FREEZE to death!"


Remember Sobranies?

Can't say that I do. Did they call them that because the brainies smoked them?

Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my mind around a snack/ash tray.

Would that be a snaksh tray?

That sounds kind of James Bond, doesn't it?

"Bring me a snaksh tray, Pussy."

Smoking was just such an accepted part of life.


My parents for instance....one kid with asthma (and remember there was almost no treatment then, except doctors rushing in and injecting you with adrenaline until the wheezing stopped) and the other dying of cystic fibrosis (one of the effects of which is terrible lung problems) and they BOTH smoked! In the house...in the car....everyone (almost) did.


Sobranies were just tres sophisticated.

They were black..with gold filter covers...or the cocktail Sobranies were all delicious colours.


They were smooth and luvverly.