Most (Canadian) people think of these ubiquitous upright stands (with a close proximity to a DC-3 airplane mounted on top) when they think of airplane ashtrays-these are like the granddaddy of airplane ashtray stands, and nicely finished ones can sell for up to $1500 although it's relatively easy to pick up something decent for $300-$400. Originally, the stand sold for in $20-$24 range, new, in the years immediately after the war when interest was highest.
These decorative stands were originally made by two Canadian companies, called Metalcraft and another called Electrolite (sic) both in Toronto. There was apparently also a third Canadian company in Montreal that made a slightly different airplane ashtray that had a square tray and square boxes that dropped into the tray and a narrower airplane that had three lines running down the side..
Recently, I was introduced to a gentleman, John Kearns who owns about 20 of these ashtrays and has met with the son of the original owner of Metalcraft. The ashtrays from Metalcraft were made by a gentleman by the name of Shapiro, the company owner, who's son Murray is still alive and lives in Aberfoyle, Ontario. Mr Shapiro designed the ashtrays and made numerous variations on the model, selling everything from simple ashtray stands to very elaborate ones which sold at Eatons for $29.00 back in the day. The models were constantly tweaked by Mr Shapiro in an endeavour to achieve maximum profit from the trays-original ashtray flippers (the pivotting part on the ashtrays) originally had bumps in the middle but were later removed to manufacture more cheaply, and cast propellors were later replaced with stamped ones. Mr Shapiro also played with variations such as the addition of a clock, and various alabaster bases. The supplier for the electrical cords was even a Canadian company called Dempseys, an electric supply company at the corner of Lawrence and Bathurst; when the company closed, Mr Kearns was fortunate to buy a box of about 100 electric cords leftover for wiring the internal light which is turned on and off with a small switch on the belly of the aircraft. Some of the variations are also a result of Mr Shapiro letting his employees build their own ashtray stand as a Christmas present each year at Christmas time. Mr Shapiro was apparently a very community oriented businessman as well, and he donated two airplane ashtray stands to each hospital in Toronto which were normally prominently displayed in their front lobbies or waiting rooms-unfortunately, most of these have long since disappeared in light of the ban on smoking in hospitals. Years later, enterprising individuals acquired the original molds and starting making essentially reproductions and new iterations that incorporated the airplane still but displayed in varying formats, some of which are pictured further below. Other companies on the West Coast also made copies under various names, but the Canadian version is still the original. Because antique collectors were aware of the interest in these models, they would collect and refurbish stands using various components from other ones such that it is almost impossible to distinguish an entirely "original" stand anymore, especially if found at a flea market or antique store.
November 2015; Gary Shapiro, a son of the original owner of Electrolite contacted me to shed some more light (pardon the pun) onto this interesting piece of Canadian manufacturing history. Gary writes "hi there ed,... my late father and his brothers owned Electrolite Lamp Manufacturing Company in Toronto, we made these stands in our factory on Ingram Drive in the Keele and Lawrence area, its my fathers script that appears under the wings on the dc3, that says "Electrolite Toronto"...he was an artist.... I have been collecting these stands and the others without the plane for the last decade or so, the brothers had the patent for the ones with small lighter attached to the handle, this set ours apart from the other makers in the 1950's....the lighters were purchased from a man named Aronson, he changed the name of his company to Ronson, for business reasons! ...these stands evolved out of lamp manufacturing, they simply took the tall lights that were in style then (people didn't have pot lights and indirect lighting in their homes then)..they cut them in half, and put tables, ashtrays etc on the tops..they retailed from 9.99 for basic simple smoking stand up to 19.99 for the dc3 in 1954! A lot of money then, we had a page in the Eatons Catalogue, very cool, best regards, gary.
April 2017 Contacted by a longtime collector of airplane ashtrays who disputes the claims of the above and who observes that some of the information provided to me is not entirely accurate, so anyone conducting research into the history of these ashtrays should dig deeper and simply use the information presented here as leads to learning more about them. Certainly this is no argument that there were Canadian companies making some very nice DC-3 ashtrays but the definitive history of their genesis is still somewhat murky with further details below...
Probably one of the earliest Eaton's catologue pages from the Fall/Winter issue of that company's order catalogue, made of "good-wearing metal" Indeed. Yours for just $17.95!
A later ad in 1949 from Eaton's advertised it as a "Smoking Accessory with Masculine Appeal"!
A later ad in 1949 from Eaton's advertised it as a "Smoking Accessory with Masculine Appeal"!
Canadian Airplane Advertisements of the 1940's and 50's
https://www.canadianairplanelamp.org/ (for more pictures)
Doug K is a picker on the west coast who has spent a lifetime restoring and assembling a large number of DC-3 airplane stands and has been kind enough to share them on my website to help collectors see the great variety of these models. (Note, all of the lamps below are factory originals other than the custom ones noted and none are available for purchase). His words and images below:
Canadian Airplane lamps are styled after one of the worlds best airplane designs – The Douglas DC-3. They were usually mounted on the top of floor ashstands and side tables. A much smaller number were sold as table top/desk models. There were five different airplane castings in brass, chrome or silver-wash like finishes. They were marked or labelled “Metalcraft”, “Florentine”, “Tuscan”, “Thaus Lamp”, or “Electrolite”. They came with six different propeller styles. All were made in Canada from at least 1945 (and possibly as early as the late 1930s) through the mid 1950s. Cast in Ontario and Quebec from varying qualities of pot metal, they could be fragile.
(images below arranged horizontally starting with the Florentine) CLICK ON IMAGE FOR ENLARGED PICTURE
Canadian Airplane lamps are styled after one of the worlds best airplane designs – The Douglas DC-3. They were usually mounted on the top of floor ashstands and side tables. A much smaller number were sold as table top/desk models. There were five different airplane castings in brass, chrome or silver-wash like finishes. They were marked or labelled “Metalcraft”, “Florentine”, “Tuscan”, “Thaus Lamp”, or “Electrolite”. They came with six different propeller styles. All were made in Canada from at least 1945 (and possibly as early as the late 1930s) through the mid 1950s. Cast in Ontario and Quebec from varying qualities of pot metal, they could be fragile.
(images below arranged horizontally starting with the Florentine) CLICK ON IMAGE FOR ENLARGED PICTURE
(From the late 1970s into the 21st century aluminium versions from an early mold (“patent pending” – Metalcraft) were cast in small runs from Vancouver, B.C.. In the mid 1980s similar pot metal airplane lamps with elaborate stands were cast in Southern California, (Dereco).
Bespoke or custom restored version with acrylic disc props and original parts assemblages have also been built with both original pot metal chromed models and later aluminum copies. (images below)
Bespoke or custom restored version with acrylic disc props and original parts assemblages have also been built with both original pot metal chromed models and later aluminum copies. (images below)
After W.W.II “Florentine” made an “Air Sea Rescue Launch” table lamp patterned after the British Power Boat Co. Type Two (HSL) whaleback. Mainly brass plated, there were scarce chrome versions.
Canadian Airplane lamp pics copyright pik-n-fix-doug.ca2019 For more photos, see https://www.canadianairplanelamp.org/
Giftwares Wholesale Co was an importer in Winnipeg that also offered the "Aeroplane Smoker" for $24.50 in 1951. Sort of an early Amazon where you could order from the catalogue and have delivered to your home. customers could advise if they would accept a substitution if the item they wanted was not in stock.
|
Of course, Canada's main catalogue distribution house in the 1950's, perhaps after Eaton's, was Simpsons (later Simpson Sears) and the ad on right shows the 10" high airplane lamp with light for $34.50 from that company.
|
The Western Smallware and Stationary Co of Winnipeg offered this Aeroplane Table Lamp in their 1952-53 catalogue for a modest $12.00. The table with lamp was $25.00