WHY YOU’LL WANT TO OWN IT:  This original black ceramic ashtray, boldly emblazoned with crisp white lettering and measuring five inches in diameter, is more than a smoking accessory, it’s a relic from the golden age of Manhattan nightlife. It once represented the legendary Stork Club, the most famous nightclub of the 1940s, where velvet ropes parted for presidents, movie stars, socialites, and power brokers. 

Souvenir of Mid-Century Nightlife.

Founded by Sherman Billingsley and opened in 1929, the club reached its dazzling peak during World War II and the postwar years, becoming synonymous with glamour, exclusivity, and influence. To hold this ashtray is to hold a fragment of that rarefied world, when deals were whispered over Martinis and reputations were made between the dinner hour and dawn.

At the Stork Club, the guest list read like a society column – Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Elizabeth Taylor all passed through its doors.  This rare conversation piece evokes tuxedos, flashbulbs, and the intoxicating hum of New York at its most glamorous.