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The Great Ashtray Collection
Posted: Friday, September 28, 2007
By Ellsworth Boyd
Leo Doloff
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When 85-year-old Leo Doloff passed away 18 months ago, he was still smoking one Garcia y Vega Corona a day, tapping his embers into one of his 400 assorted ashtrays.
The avid ashtray seeker, who spent 30 years as a communications officer of the National Security Council's Near East and South Asia Affairs Office, made the whole world his collecting grounds. In his ongoing search for the perfect piece -- seeking quality, not quantity -- Doloff made purchases from 143 countries on his world map. His wife, Lotte, continues the display in her Cheverly, Maryland, home.
"As far as I know, it's the only collection of its kind in the world," says Doloff. "Many people collect ashtrays, but some of them are a little tacky and covered with advertising slogans. Leo never made room in his collection for an unimaginative ashtray such as those made of plastic, cheap glass or stamped sheet metal. He preferred crystal, brass, stained glass, carved horn or other fine materials. Many of them are different shapes and figures such as animals, flowers, shoes, boats and shells, each reflecting the distinctive art of a particular country. One of his favorites was an ebony ashtray from New Zealand. Carved from a tree trunk and about 12 inches in diameter, it contains a native village scene."
For many years, the Doloffs traveled the world for both work and pleasure. For the latter, they went abroad every other year. Lotte, born in Germany, is fluent in German and French, with a working knowledge of several other languages. She was always helpful as an interpreter and sometimes a bargainer, but Leo wasn't bad in negotiating his own transactions.
A fragment of Doloff's collection on display in his Maryland home.
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An ambassador from a country not to be named once invited Leo to his Washington office to see some typical handicrafts made by his people. Some of the items on display were ashtrays made in a variety of colored stone, one of which caught the Maryland collector's eye. Bargaining for its purchase began at $50, and Doloff wiggled his Garcia y Vega from left to right to indicate that he wanted a lower price. The two men exchanged pleasantries about their countries and Doloff wiggled his cigar again. They exchanged diplomatic smiles and once again Leo wiggled the cigar, always from left to right. When the price dropped to $10, he wiggled it up and down, indicating a sale, then walked away with an ashtray carved from rare pink marble.
The collection got its start when Doloff was with a U.S. Army engineering unit stationed in Belgium during the Second World War. Someone lured him to a shop where he spied a small ashtray made of exquisite porcelain. Beautifully colored and fired, the piece was affixed to an upright figure of a man with an umbrella. Expensive at the time, but priceless today, this trophy led its owner and his collection to international fame.
More of Doloff's collection.
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Although now defunct, the International Ashtray Club -- started by Leo Doloff and Jean Vandercommen of Brussels -- began with two members and grew to two dozen. The late Mr. Vandercommen, who was up in years when the club started, suggested that Leo assume the presidency. After corresponding for several years, the two collectors finally met when Doloff and Lotte visited Belgium on one of their trips abroad.
Lotte says that although there are some ashtrays in the collection that were made in the United States, her husband felt that he never discovered one that exemplified our country. She said, "Leo always joked that most ashtrays in the U.S. are like Rodney Dangerfield. They ‘don't get no respect.' Leo favored some of the European countries where ashtrays are considered as much a work of art as a vase, an urn or decorative bowl and are carefully selected to complement the household furnishings."
Lotte retains Leo's outline map of the world, depicting each country where he secured an ashtray. It was all a game with Doloff and he loved it: the search, the bargaining, the purchase and the display. The selection remains intact -- just the way he wanted it.
Ellsworth Boyd is Professor Emeritus, College of Education, Towson University, Towson, Maryland, and writes a monthly column for Sport Diver Magazine.
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