Wednesday, March 20, 2013

In Which We Do a Third-Rate Lileks Impression

James Lileks is the foremost archivist of 20th century ephemera on these here inter-tubes and is a joy to read (or look at), given as how he discovers THE most interesting artifacts and presents them with such rare grace and humor.  Alas, Gentle Reader, you'll find neither grace nor humor in our Lileks impression... just nostalgia for Former Happy Days.  But let's get to it...

There was a time in the not-so-distant past that you could (a) smoke in bars, restaurants, hotels, and just about anywhere you had a mind to and (b) the proprietors of said bars, hotels, restaurants, and other such venues had personalized matches available for you, on demand, to put fire to your cigar, cigarette, or pipe.  And, in some cases... if you happened to be in certain establishments in, say, Amsterdam or sub-rosa dives here in the USofA... joints.  Those days are long gone, as smoking in bars, yadda, yadda, is pretty well prohibited everywhere in these United States, a great part o' Europe, and even in a growing number o' Asian countries.  (sigh)

But, as I said... this wasn't always so.  Herewith a small sampling of matchbooks I acquired over the years.


As always, click to embiggen.


This is about five percent of my small collection; I've known other folks with collections that exceeded mine by an order o' magnitude, to say the very least.  There's a story behind each and every matchbook in those two illustrations, some of which I can actually remember and some of which I've posted about here at EIP.  Most, however, are meaningful only to me.  Like the "Governor's Residence" one, which I picked up in the Michigan governor's mansion at a reception for EDS at the conclusion of a successful contract; the "Harbor Lights" book, which is where The Second Mrs. Pennington and I spent the first night of our honeymoon; "Sweet Lorraine's," TSMP's and my favorite restaurant while we lived in Dee-troit; and the "Sometime" piano bar in Tokyo, a smoky lil place with an outstanding ambiance where TSMP and I hung out a LOT.  And you know there may be more... stories.

It's a pretty sad state o' affairs that the matchbook has gone the way o' ink wells, the typewriter, and steam locomotives.  All o' the foregoing were replaced with sumthin' better but such is NOT the case with matchbooks.  We've lost an entire way o' life, a way o' marking the places we've been, and a lot o' memories in the process, as well.

It is to weep.

14 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. I concur. I had forgotten match books, this post reminded me of some I'd had (and used) in the past. Kinda wish I'd saved some, no doubt the Missus is pleased I did not. ("Don't you have enough junk already?")

    Good memories there.

    Sigh...

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    1. I wish I had saved MORE of the things, and earlier. But, Hey! It is what it is.

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  3. I used to collect all sorts of stuff that I knew would be interesting twenty years later. But, about age 30 I had a change of life. I just didn't care about memories anymore. I gave everything away, or tossed it in a Dempsey dumpster. Lava lamps, Japanese coke bottles, ash trays stolen from hotels...

    Looking back at that decision 20 years later, I think it was a good decision for me. I live in the present, and the past is past. I went to buy some film for my 4x5 camera about two years ago. The prices floored me. I gave away all my film cameras last year to collectors. "I'm done with that!" I said. Onward and upwards...

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    1. I predict there might be a time when you regret throwing all that stuff away. OTOH, I know the feeling... as I "downsized" an incredible amount when I moved into El Casa Móvil De Pennington. Bein' free o' stuff is pretty cool. For a while.

      (I still have my 35mm SLR.)

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  4. My wife, of all people (being as she is a non-smoker--as am I ) was for many years a collector of match-book covers--go figure. And yet she accuses ME of hoarding, lol...

    Actually, your right, Buck--they're a good way to maintain the memory record of one's life--or at least a major aspect of it.. Again--would be suitable for wall-mounted framed art-work like the cigar bands..

    OT here, but I forgot to mention on the Turkey post about how jealous I am re your time in Istanbul. The only part of Turkey I got to see was the little rural town of Adana where Incirlik AB is when we were down TDY to sit nuke alert and practice low-level nuke delivery every three months. Saw LOTS of Turkey from the air, however, lol.

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    1. ... would be suitable for wall-mounted framed art-work...

      I once saw a rather large coffee table... about four feet long by two and a half feet wide... completely embedded with matchbooks in the epoxy table-top. It was VERY well done and quite the conversation piece. It cost the guy a pretty penny to have it done, too.

      In re: Istanbul. It was Ankara, actually, but I did spend a couple o' weeks TDY to Karamursel AS, which was but a hop, skip, and a jump... if you consider an hour's ferry ride a jump... to Istanbul. I did spend a few days in that city and was MOST impressed, so much so that TSMP and I were planning a vacation trip there slightly before she handed in her resignation.

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    2. Speaking of epoxy inlays, the parents of one of my fraternity bros in Orlando had their basement den/game-room floor covered solid under epoxy w. the old British Penny (the large half-dollar-sized copper version.) Looked dynamite! Quite the conversation piece..

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  5. PS: I too still have my 35mm Cannon SLR that I bought at the China Fleet Store in Hong Kong in 1968, lol.

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    1. Man... I remember the China Fleet Club...
      ...and Tiger Beer... do they still have Tiger Beer in HK?
      We went to the China Fleet Club to find referrals to "reputable" tailor shops

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  6. PPS: *I* want to know EXACTLY what went on at the Harbor Lights Motel! (Or, on reflection, maybe not., lol)

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    1. Heh. Just the usual, Virgil... just the usual. If you want narrative just read the last chapter in any given Harlequin novel. ;-)

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  7. Now and then it would be nice to have a book of matches in your purse - in case you needed to build a fire or melt a rope end, etc.

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