When I was a boy I did two school craft projects - an ashtray and a pipe rack. This was in the 70s (in England). This was perfectly normal. Also ALL teachers smoked. It was the law I think.
I also used to be sent down the shops to buy cigarettes for my parents when I was a boy (about 9 years old). This would be impossible for two reasons now - much more innocent times.
Only a couple short things to add to the discussion. First, I had forgotten about the “cool” ashtrays in stores, hospitals, etc. that had the button that made the doors open. What do kids play with now, in those situations where you’re dragged shopping with your parents, or whatever? Maybe that’s what’s turning them into hooligans. The lack of push-button ashtrays.
Second, ashtrays in cars nowadays are offered as an option, a “smoker’s package”. It usually runs about 15-25 dollars, and consists of a lighter, and (what I got with my car), a cup-shaped ashtray, with lid, that sits in one of the cupholder positions. Where the lighter used to be in most cars is now just used mostly as a power point for most car accessories. Not that anyone cares, but, I don’t smoke, just that the car I got didn’t have a lot of options for the dealer to load up on, so I ended up with the afore-mentioned Smoker’s Package, as well as an unwanted spoiler on the back of the car. They’ll nickel-and-dime ya to death, I tells ya.
They play with cup-holders (or in my kids’ case every other damn thing in the car, including the dog)
Also if you haven’t got a cigarette lighter in a car how can you power all those nifty gadgets like travel kettles?
OK, a couple more: Dad used to get me to light his cigs while he was driving, when I was about 12. He is a doctor.
I had a teacher who used to smoke in class, this again was when I was in my very early teens. At university there were some tutors who smoked in their offices during seminars.