Rooting around in a batch of old matches, I found one celebrating the Silver Jubilee of King George V (Elizabeth’s grandfather) in 1935. There was much revelry in the streets, so I assume he was beloved by his subjects. Sadly, he passed away less than a year later. Continuing the tradition of encouraging the people […]
Category: The Matchbooks
Smoke and Curl
These athletic club matchbooks puzzle me. I guess they might come in handy in the bathroom? Of course when this club was formed in 1903 maybe smoking was considered OK. These rich dudes probably had cigars, pipes. They though that was safer than the cigarettes and wildwood week the prolitariat partook in. The downtown main […]
No Baron of Beef, I had Captain Crunch for dinner.
Here is the sad tale of the Parliament Hotel in Birmingham, Alabama. Looks like a nice place in it’s day, with a Baron of Beef for a hearty meal, the “cork room” to get properly corked. Not sure what went on in the “Once a Knight” lounge. Unfortunately, the Parliament seemed to be one of […]
Sick and tired of your job?
Tom took a correspondence course in electronics, not sure what exactly he does now, but Jim sure is impressed. Jim stayed in the old neighborhood, working at the metal forming shop- hence the missing fingers. I used to think about doing one of the courses that Sally Struthers used to tout during the afternoon movie […]
The case for indoor plumbing
Here’s another gem from the Owl Cafe. This country gal is presumably trying to get cleaned up some in that there barrel tub, but this duck is trying to help, or reclaim his barrel. She is annoyed and hence wants to sell the duck. I guess the Owl’s proprietors had a pretty good sense of […]
That’s just unsafe!
Somebody put a shelf about 7 feet in the air, so this hardworking administrative assistant has to get a stepladder to retrieve last month’s TPS reports. I don’t know how she got her dress caught on the top of the ladder. There was much discussion about whether to move the books to a safer accessible […]
Cousin Jethro is on Hullabaloo today!
Pa is busy upgrading his outhouse with television, so it must be something special on. Otherwise, why not look at that Sears catalog hanging on the wall? There are plenty of pages left. These cartoon matchbooks are my favorite category, even when they don’t make sense.
Draw a paycheck
My dad was like that. Anytime he was involved in something creative or contemplative, he smoked his pipe, or at least had it handy. The woman on the matchbook ad for the drawing school was all “Draw me like one of your French girls” – Although I think illustrators are more likely to be required […]
A red and green bandwagon to jump on
Here’s another Santa matchbook, this one from the nice people at Du-par’s, whoever they are. You have to admit, back when most people smoked, matches were a great way to advertise. Not sure if I like this Santa though. He seems to be saying, “Ho Ho! Lighting up a doobie in the alley behind the […]
Merry Christmas, you old savings and loan!!
Back in the day, folks didn’t have credit cards. If they wanted something that was more than they could swing this week, they saved for it. Hence banks had “Christmas Club” accounts, you would set aside a certain amount each week, then withdraw it all at Christmas time, and get mugged in the alley. But […]