The Marble Ashtray.

The Marble Ashtray. From the Border City series.

The Marble Ashtray was a wedding present to my parents way back when smoking was considered cool, normal and harmless. In fact it was considered to be good for your health as it helped you relax,
but that was in the seventies when people wore flares and baldness was considered an illness, hence the mighty comb-over.
I actually grew up with this Ashtray. It was always there on some coffee table, or balancing precariously on the arm of a sofa filled with ash and cigarette butts. This 'Cancer Collector' as it might now be known was once a beautiful emerald green and often formed part of my toy soldier army defences.
As time went on and my parents moved house, bought new furniture and fitted carpets, the one thing that remained was The Marble Ashtray. Perhaps this disguised household weapon with ruff natural edges and a thin layer of dark green velvet glued to its base was once considered to be of Objay D'Arts quality, but I very much doubt it.
And so now some thirty eight years later The Marble Ashtray still remains residing in my parents garden like a strangely misshaped rock. The once deep emerald green colour has somehow been washed away by a decade of outdoor usage (there will be no smoking in this house) which makes one question the original quality, and location of the find..
One thing which had not changed was the fact it was still full of fag butts, in fact I don't think I every saw The Marble Ashtray empty..