White Heather Scotch Whisky bar ashtray

I would really appreciate comments and thoughts on my research into this ashtray. Have any of you seen one before? If I try to sell it, what would you expect to pay for it?

White Heather Scotch Whisky bar ashtray

A rare, perhaps a unique example of alcohol advertising material​

White Heather blended Scotch Whisky (WHSW) was foreseen in the early 1930s by Samuel Rosenbloom when he opened his whisky merchandising business called Forbes McGregor & Co. In 1934 he expanded the business by acquiring Glasgow blender Muir Mackenzie & Co, and changed the name of the Company to S. Campbell & Son Ltd to reflect his newly changed surname. Muir Mackenzie came with its own whisky brand called Clan Campbell.

With the ending of the second World War, Campbell & Son purchased the Aberlour-Glenlivet Distillery on Speyside from W.H. Holt & Sons, thereby providing it with an in-house supplier of malt whisky, but Samuel had not forgotten the concept of WHSW.

Early in the 1950s, Campbell & Son established a subsidiary called White Heather Distillers Ltd to introduce, blend and bottle the White Heather brand at the Aberlour Distillery. A bottle blended in the 1950s was recently on sale for £280 (€307).

In 1974, Pernod Ricard acquired the Company; but within a decade they had decided to discontinue the White Heather brand, although it continues today to manufacture and market the Clan Campbell brand, which is distilled and blended in Scotland.

S. Campbell & Son was eventually renamed Campbell Distillers, and later, under Pernod Ricard, merged into Chivas Brothers when they acquired that company.

The WHSW bar ashtray shown below would have been distributed to bars between 1953 to 1974


1


2



3


4



5

The design represents the area contained by the top two ‘metal’ hoops of a whisky cask, with the WHSW name in embossed letters that are fixed to the ‘wooden’ staves. The barrelhead is topped with a glass ashtray that sparkles in the light.

It is made from a composite material that at present has not been positively unidentified, although it is most probably Bakelite. When tested with damp baking soda there appeared to be a yellow stain.

One can only say that physically it is huge by the standards of most bar ashtrays. It measures at the base 22.5cm, the top is 20.5cm, and has a height of 8.0 cm.

Damage is minimal, especially for an artefact aged between 45 and 65 years of age, and has been used in an environment where it could be subject to careless incidents. The condition is shown in the photographs.

The damage has made it possible to make a close look at the construction.

Specific defects are (a) Damage to a few of the letters around the barrel, see photographs 1 & 5. (b) The bottom plate or membrane has a small broken opening. Where it is possible to see through the broken membrane it becomes apparent that there is a second base plate or membrane, and that the two membranes are glued together. The glass ashtray is adhered inside the barrelhead, see photograph 3.

The construction is intriguing. There are no obvious mould breaks. It is probable that the top and bottom sections, delineated by the hoops, are separated by a ring of staves. The letters are created using composite filled shapes formed from thin aluminium, and appear to have been spot-adhered to the cask. The glass ashtray and the reflective material below it must have been added in a later third stage.

The final assembly has been hand-painted. A reddish-brown for the staves, black for the hoops, and gold for the letters.

It is not unreasonable to conclude that this a development mock-up,or one of a few made for significant bars. A strong reason for believing this is that by 1953/54, when the first barrels were being tapped and bottled, Bakelite was being phased out in favour alternative materials. They would have been extremely expensive and time consuming to manufacture, if my assumptions on the construction are correct.

The ashtray would have been commissioned by one of two companies, S. Campbell & Son, or Pernod Ricard.

In favour of Pernod Ricard is that the ashtray photographed was last in the possession of a French citizen living in France, where the Company is a big employer. Against that, is that Pernod Ricard is a dour corporation, interested in profitability, and it stopped production of WHSW within 10 years of acquiring it. So, it must have had doubts about the market development of the product for some time.

On the other hand, Campbell & Son identified with the WHSW blend. Samuel conceived it in the 1930s, he bought a distillery and a bottling plant in order to start manufacturing in the 1950s. He was a man of big ideas, had drive, was a showman, and a risk taker. He took another man’s name, and subsequently put Ian Campbell, 12th Duke of Argyll (S), 5th Duke of Arygll (UK), DL, FRSE on the board of House of Campbell, Campbell Distillers’ holding company. It brought prestige to Clan Campbell, Samuel’s other whisky brand, and reflected on him too, although this appointment happened a little time after Pernod Ricard had bought House of Campbell, it is probable that Samuel instigated this before the acquisition.

The WHSW bar ashtray is typical of the man. The ashtray is big, bigger and deeper than most bar ashtrays, it obviously represents a cask, and a message that is short and to the point, ‘White Heather Scotch Whisky’. Like Campbell, the design is complex, and its production would be difficult to achieve.

I have searched extensively on the Internet and not found a similar bar ashtray to match the whisky cask. The only ashtray was that shown in photograph 6. In addition, there were a few other pieces of memorabilia: Yellow water jug, photograph 7, ice bucket, photograph 8, and also various drinking glasses, photograph 9, a poster, a miniature bottle of WHSW, a wooden crate (€126 Ebay.de), and four drinks coasters (€5 Ebay.fr). There was also a ‘House of Campbell’ pocket knife for $65, available from Florida, USA.

6 7 8 9



Final thoughts. Without evidence to the contrary, it is evident that other cask style ashtrays either don’t exist, or the few ashtrays that were made at the time, have been lost or lying discarded in an attic.

Giving the difficulties of making these in quantity, it is not reasonable to assume that this design could be a one-off prototype, and the project was cancelled. Unfortunately, there is nobody left at Pernod Ricard (PR) from that era who would know, but a request to the press office of PR brought forth this response from the present archivist of Chivas Brothers:

“White Heather is a blended whisky that was quite popular in the 1950s – 1970s. Pernod Ricard continued to produce it until the 1980s and then it was discontinued.

“It is difficult to say but the ash tray seems older that 1974 when PR bought Campbell and sons but cannot be sure. Many Point of Sale Items (eg ashtrays, glasses, etc) would have been produced for various markets over the years. I would think they would not have been produced in large quantities.”

This ashtray is available to be purchased. There is no evidence that there are any others available for sale on the Internet. It is no exaggeration to say it is a rare opportunity to acquire an interesting ashtray, historically and for style, to add to your collection. This ashtray is not just rare, it is possibly the only one in circulation, and therefore unique.

Photographs:

1 General view

2 Side of cask

3 View of the glass barrelhead (ashtray)

4 Bottom plate

5 Five of the six intriguing marks (some people can determine what are, others can’t)

6 Ashtray, in New South Wales, No indication of the size [Facebook A$ 50]

7 Yellow Jugs [www.whiskyjugscave.it], also two other designs not shown

8 Ice bucket (lid not shown) [Ebay €44.90]

9 Drinking glasses [Facebook €12 for nine glasses]


END: Copyright - Brian M Warshaw, October 2020

 

It's very nice, and crosses Tobacconia & Advertizing & Alcohol related collections.
I'd expect 20 pounds would be a reasonable cost , only because it has some history.
Rare is only important when ordering a steak.....

 

According to the Scotch Whiskey web site, the brand only existed from the 1950s to the 1980s. And it was an obscure blend. You can go to eBay UK's Completed listings to see that there doesn't seem to be a lot of consumer interest for the brand's merchandising items.

Debora

 

Thanks. I've already got more the £20 worth of fun out of it in investing its probable history.

 

Well, there's that!

Debora

 

The heyday of wine & spirits merchandising was the 1970s. I suspect your ashtray dates to then. That's when there was a big surge in category interest among consumers.

Debora

 

Debora, You are absolutely right. The first tapping of whiskey was drawn in 1953, although its owner first gave it thoughts in the 1930, but to get there he had to acquire both a distillery and a bottler. It was bought from him by Pernod-Ricarde in 1974 and killed in 1984. It really only sold in France, despite being distillery in Scotland.

Its monetary value, if it has any, will be in its potentially being the only one, or one of just a few. Who would pay millions for the Mona Lisa if Leonardo da Vinci had pushed out 10,000 a year for 30 years. Currently a 75cl bottle will cost one €300, and that's not because of its flavour; but because of its rarity. Isn't that the rational of the collecting industry?

 

Debora, put yourself in Campbell's (Rosenbloom's) shoes. I imagine he was a driven man, a man who desired success and recognition, probably to escape from the anti-Semitism that was rampant in the 1930s, and in his place, I would have started the ashtray/advertising from the first day of starting the manufacturing process.

I believe the ashtray beat him.

 

but because of its rarity. Isn't that the rational of the collecting industry?

Well, no...it's not !

 

Komokwa, you can't leave it there.

 

Rare means nothing , unless the item already has an established value , or is sought after by collectors , or has a market.
Hot Wheels are a dime a dozen.....but the 'rare' VW beach wagon....goes for lots of cash....if you can find one.
And there's the rub....your ashtray...may indeed be the only one in the world....but it's not old, or sought after and the market isn't there........
And then there's the internet ......
some guy puts up a ' whatever' on eBay.....and everyone loses their shit !!
WOW...I didn't know they still exist .......a week later ...there's 100 on eBay....
Just cuz one can't find something on the web.......means nothing !
It well could mean that 14 years ago....there were 200 on the web...........no one wanted them...they never sold....and the pics are gone now...
or....
they are not in demand, so no one is photographing them............

Collecting is all about sentiment, desire, investment and market buzz.
It takes many forms....but something that was only produced in very limited fashion....that no one's looking for.....and that collecting craze has passed....however rare.............just ain't worth much.

 

Well, I give it a go. There is a lot in what you say.

 

Hi Komokwa,

Strange how things come along. I just found this on Ebay.fr: I think it disproves your theory "...however rare.............just ain't worth much".

Of course, it's for sale, not yet sold.

God night.




Large Vintage CAMPBELL'S WHITE HEATHER scotch whisky bar Publicité 18" Bouteille

Beautiful and hard to find bar advertising item!! Rare vintage very large Campbell’s White Heather Scotch Whisky amber glass bottle which measures about 18” high and 8” square at bottom. Bottle is empty and never held any alcohol. It was made for advertising purposes only. Campbell’s Distillery was established in 1845 and operates out of Glasgow, Scotland. Bottle was made in the UK and paper labels in the USA. Bottle is very good overall condition as shown in the pics. Light wear to paper labels, but displays great. No cracks, scuffs or chips to the amber glass. Glass is flawless and has small air bubbles from manufacture which is typical of older glass. Spout opening has a rough edge from manufacture. Wood bottle cap very good with some sticker residue. See pics for more details.

Price: USD 299

 

if u say so...
but it ain't just my theory....& that ain't no ashtray.....

 

You're right "that ain't no ashtray". It's a useless empty bottle. Come on! Perhaps these are the exceptions...

 

That is what I am waiting to see.