I have a small collection of odd, dramatic, "different" and therefore IMO quite interesting U.S. WW2 vet bringbacks.

This "souvenir" ashtray apparently has an interesting history to it too. In 1945 a piece of the original fireplace in Berchtesgaden was chopped away by U.S. soldiers and later sold to the American auto parts company, ‘Weatherhead’ in Illinois. The company then decided to make a series of ashtrays in the shape of the Berchtesgaden fireplace, each with an inset section of the original marble. These were then given as ’special gifts’ by ‘Weatherhead’ to customers and VIP:s in 1946, how many no one knows…

The ashtray seems to have a solid provenance too. According to UoE this example was given to Lt.Col.B.O.Tobin of the US Army (I wonder who he was), and was later sold on to Mark D.Griffith M.D. The replica ashtray is shown on page 65 of Griffith’s publication, ‘Liberated Adolf Hitler Memorabilia.

Now I probaby only need to get Griffiths book and start smoking .

Best, Jan

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