Cleveland National Air Race Ashtray

I had heard stories about these souvenir ashtrays with an old flying buddy who described these in depth. He and his father made an annual trek from 1930 to 1939 from Erie, PA to Cleveland, OH for a whole week of air displays, stunt flying and, of course, racing. The big Thompson Race was a closed circuit race and the highlight of the week of flying.

To commemorate and memorialize the the thrills of the event one seller in the "commercial section" would produce the Pylon Polisher Ashtray for sale. These were most likely produced from off-the-shelf components and, by there design, were lucky to arrive home in one piece. This is probably the reason why so few survived. This one was restored earlier this year after 10 years searching for components.

In the 1930's Golden Age of Air Racing, nothing screamed Americana more than this Art Deco styled celebration of speed. It seems appropriate to show this on July 4 with its distinctive red, white and blue markings.