This ashtray is from the collection of Dr. The collection is immense and numbers in the tens of thousands, easily the largest such collection in the world. Red Panda Collectibles is working with his widow, Mrs. Judy Gregory, in sorting, documenting, and listing for sale this vast collection. This represents an unparalleled opportunity for collectors to find rare mid-century advertising glass ashtrays. Paul Gregory was more interested in his career as an. Anesthesiologist and flying back seat in a Navy F-4 during. His time in service, but collecting ashtrays was a fun. Diversion from the serious side of life. It all started in an. Era when companies saw ashtrays as a method of. If they ended up in someone’s home, more. People would see their logo and think about them. When Paul was a teenager, his uncle gave him an ashtray. From a favorite Chinese restaurant, and that started a. Collection that lasted over the next 6-7 decades. Couple of decades it was just a fun diversion, but it eventually. Grew into a purposeful pursuit. He limited his collection to. Those ashtrays with business logos, whether it was a large. Company or casino or just a local restaurant around the. He would haunt antique stores all over the. Country, depending on his travels. Decades he discovered e-Bay and other on-line sites, and. His collection grew by leaps and bounds. He had unlimited time to search, and he used that time to its. Fullest, resulting in what is probably an unrivaled collection.