I came from a family of collectors, and one of the easiest things to collect as a kid was matchbooks. That’s right; those little cardboard things that help people light up cancer sticks. Every restaurant worth its salt had a jar of matches at the host/hostess stand where patrons could grab a pack on the way in/out. They have become a historical document, with the logos and contact information of establishments now long gone. The first one shown here from my collection is for Bar Marmont, the former next door neighbor of my beloved hotel, the Chateau Marmont. Bar on the front; Marmont on the back. Get it?
The inside of the matchbook shows the butterfly motif that patrons would see once inside the Bar.
For as long as I've been staying there, the ashtrays in the Chateau’s rooms still carry matchbooks. One of the many little reasons I enjoy going there. And no, I don’t smoke, so just pack up your little judgments.
What a clever little piece of advertising. Phone number, location, and intelligent design.
I don’t know what the correlation between the naked girl and the Chateau is, but that’s what you find on the inside.
eBay once listed a previous incarnation of the hotel’s matches; much simpler in design.
…but much louder in touting their claim to fame. I wonder if these were produced before or after Belushi?
When traveling, just in case you get lost, always carry your matches with you!
A recent acquisition to my collection were these matches for the Garden of Allah hotel, once located semi-across the street from the Chateau on Sunset Boulevard.
Another eBay listing that I failed to bid on.
I do love the paper towel background, though.
The phone number stayed the same; although the ones I own omit the “9;” that’s one way to keep the switchboard clear.
Makes me wish I could have stayed there.
What matchbooks have you collected?
See more Daveland photos at my main website.
The only collectible "matchbook" I own is from my one and only visit to Club 33. My cousin, who had a group membership from his employer, got us in on an October day in 1995. I put matchbook in quotation marks, because it's actually a very small pad of paper in a matchbook cover with my cousin's name printed on it on gold letters.
ReplyDeleteI guess the club had given out matchbooks at one time, but when smoking was banned from restaurants the tradition transitioned to the little pads of paper. I have no idea if they still do that.
My Grandma had a matchbook dispenser on the wall near the woodstove. You'd load it at the top and pull one out at the bottom like a restroom paper towel dispenser. One of us kids was always sent over to get some adult a new book of matches. Usually they were the ones with the local grocery store's logo, that Grandma would buy big boxes of. But every once in a while there would be one from someplace else, and it was always a little thrill.
ReplyDeleteDave, what fun. This is a timely post. Thanks for posting these fun pictures. Interesting sketch of the old hotel on the later one. At least the background is only the finest paper towel, probably a very absorbent Brawny.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad collected matchbooks and I still have many of his collection reaching back 70 plus years, documenting both my childhood travels and my parents rambles before I was born.
He wasn't a smoker, but, as you say, these were readily available, inexpensive and memorable souvenirs and matches were always handy on the farm as we burned leaves and prunings, etc..
I am doing a little remodeling and furniture replacement and the collection came to light this week. I am looking forward to pawing through it again.
I did take out most of the matches, having a big box of highly flammable cardboard seemed like a bad idea. There are several with scenes or slogans printed across the match stubs, so those just have the coating bit trimmed off.
I know we have a Disneyland Tobacco Shop and a Jolly Roger Motel for sure, since I found these separated in a box of other memorabilia.
Some restaurants up here still have matches to take away. We had dinner at Sam's Grille in SF just before everything fell apart, and they had nice wooden matches available, undoubtedly for one's post-prandial cigar.
Melissa, one of my treasured antiques is a metal match dispenser from my parents kitchen on the farm. It is sized to take the standard box of wood matches and has to be close to a hundred years old. I only remember a gas stove, but they used a wood stove for years before my time. We used the dispenser for years when my wife and I relied on wood heat, and now it hold book matches for the candles we need for our frequent power blackouts.
JG