Manufacturer: Wallace China
User: Romanoff's – Beverly Hills, CA
Date of ashtray: 1950s
Notes: Michael Romanoff owned and operated two Romanoff's in California: one in Beverly Hills, the other in Nob Hill of San Francisco. Born Hershel Geguzin in Lithuania in 1890, Michael Romanoff was a professional imposter, who claimed to have been Prince Michael Dimitri Alexandrovich Obolensky-Romanoff, the nephew of Russian Tsar Nicholas II. Folks generally knew he wasn't the Tsar's nephew, but Prince Michael was a well-known, successful restaurateur from 1941 to 1962.
The Romanoff's in Beverly Hills was a popular Hollywood hangout with movie stars in the 1940s and 1950s, and was frequented by Romanoff's personal friend Humphrey Bogart as seen in the photo above.
The first Romanoff's restaurant opened in 1941 at 326 North Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif., but relocated to 240 South Rodeo Drive ten years later. Romanoff opened his Nob Hill – San Francisco venue circa 1950s.
Sources:
Wikipedia: Michael Romanoff
IMDB: Michael Romanoff Mini Biography
White body ashtray; topmarked ROMANOFFS with the center Romanoff's logo, featuring two back-to-back, overlapping R's beneath a crown.
For related info:
Romanoff's – San Francisco, CA by Syracuse China
ID and photos contributed by kathleen
Menu photos from the Los Angeles Public Library Menu Collection