What time period was this Cigarette dispenser?

[one-shot]

What time period was this Cigarette dispenser? Assuming I have correctly identified this item. The workmanship is beautiful and well made. The connection to the steering column leaves much room for improvement. Looks like it dispensed a cigarette and lite it.

[padgett]

Well before ZIP codes & The City had two digit postal codes after 1943. So 1930s ? Fabric wire was used then. OTOH when did the "made in the U.S.A." labels start appearing ?). 1950s ?

Edited June 3, 2016 by padgett (see edit history)

[Frantz]

Could you contact the building owner at that address and see when they had a tenant by that name? That would get you in the ballpark. All you need is someone sympathetic to history and you might get some traction. It looks like a very cool early deco piece.

[one-shot]

Thanks

Harold

[Amphicar BUYER]

12 hours ago, padgett said:

Well before ZIP codes & The City had two digit postal codes after 1943. So 1930s ? Fabric wire was used then. OTOH when did the "made in the U.S.A." labels start appearing ?). 1950s ?

 

Made in the USA started LONG before the 50s. Even before turn of the century.

 

This dispenser became popular in the 1930s and were made into the 1950s.

[mike6024]

1939

MASTERBILT PRODUCTS CORPORATION v. UNITED STATES.

7. On May 2, 1939, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue rejected the plaintiff's claim.

The evidence shows that the plaintiff during the period involved in the case sold and delivered to Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation 120,000 cigarette lighters and dispensers for automobiles.
[42 F.Supp. 296]
These cigarette lighters and dispensers were mechanical devices for automatically segregating, lighting, and ejecting a cigarette from a container holding a quantity of cigarettes. These lighters were supplied with a removable bracket for the purpose of being attached to the steering post of an automobile. They could be attached to a motorcycle or even a desk or a table without change or variation of the basic mechanics of the device by using a different kind of a bracket but there is no evidence of the device being actually used other than on automobiles.

These lighters and dispensers so sold by plaintiff were intended to be used in connection with the operation of automobiles and this was their primary use but they were not essential to the operation of the vehicle to which it was intended they should be attached.

http://www.leagle.com/decision/194233642FSupp294_1249/MASTERBILT PRODUCTS CORPORATION v. UNITED STATES

 

212 Fifth Avenue has now become condominiums - http://212fifthavenue.com/

 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a Masterbilt in his car, here's a picture - https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g60801-d105844-i113613971-Franklin_D_Roosevelt_Presidential_Library_and_Museum-Hyde_Park_New_York.html

 

 

Edited June 3, 2016 by mike6024 (see edit history)

[one-shot]

Thanks thats neat. I saved it now it needs a new home.

Harold

Edited June 3, 2016 by one-shot (see edit history)

[padgett]

Wouldn't a tax case in May 1939 relate to a tax filing for 1938 or earlier ?

Edited June 3, 2016 by padgett (see edit history)

[Digger914]

2 hours ago, padgett said:

Wouldn't a tax case in May 1939 relate to a tax filing for 1938 or earlier ?

Not necessarily, federal excise tax on automobiles was a brand new thing back then, what was taxable, how and at what rate was brought into question by everyone who could afford to and though this appears to be a synopsis of a case, it also appears to be nothing more than a challenge of the commissioners authority to afflict this item with the automobile tax..

[padgett]

"federal excise tax on automobiles was a brand new thing back then" errr sorry Charlie. First case I found seems to have been in 1930.

[mike6024]

There was also a home model with cord to plug into the wall, instead of low dc automobile voltage. A dealer sold one for $185 or best offer. So that might be the ballpark value. It was a simple chrome deco style.

 

1937 Masterbilt Cigarette Valet - Automatically Lights your cigarettes when you open the box. It Holds a pack of loose cigarettes in the feeder . Lighter has wear/scratches/dings/dents marks and 1 early small repair to the inner brass latch (Everything WORKS GREAT). Photos show item up close This is a used item in WORKING condition . This is being sold AS-IS as all my items are .These are very cool when using . (See a video of another one i sold working on my HOME PAGE) . If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.  Contact me if you would like to purchase.
PRICE : 185.00 or BEST OFFER,   CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE -SOLD SOLD SOLD
 

[Digger914]

49 minutes ago, padgett said:

"federal excise tax on automobiles was a brand new thing back then" errr sorry Charlie. First case I found seems to have been in 1930.

If you can believe the history in this link from the Pepperdine Law Review, it was 1932 when the tax code was written specifically to cover automobiles and later amended to cover accessories and later amended to exempt accessories  http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2291&context=plr

Edited June 4, 2016 by Digger914 (see edit history)

[46 woodie]

I have one similar to yours, but the body is made from "Bakelite". Same concept though, load in a pack of cigarettes, pull down the lever and out comes a lit cigarette. I would think that mine was late '30s, or early '40s, because it has rubber covered wire. Your's might be a little earlier because of the cloth covered wire. Mine was made by a company called "Presto-Lite".

[Digger914]

Thanks for the like Mike6024,

The car I got second hand when I was a senior in high school came with a cigarrette dispenser, it was sized to dispense filter kings and it was mostly made out of plastic, so I'm guessing it was made sometime in the mid to late 60's. Haven't ever even seen another one, not even a picture of anything like it until I saw this posting. The one I had didn't light the cigarette so it must have been one of the cheapo's.

[one-shot]

Put in for sale section.

Harold