Found on eBay

Found on eBay

I had never really thought about where exactly the major political matchbooks we find had come from until yesterday when I saw this on eBay; two covers from the 1960 Kennedy and Johnson campaign, an envelope, card and order form for more matchbooks from the Democratic Match Book Headquarters in Washington, DC. 

According to the order form you could order either the Kennedy - Johnson design or the Kennedy For President design by the case, starting at $15. 

Next up is a lot of 7 Up covers, all of which unfortunately,all look bobtailed. Anyway, the most interesting fo the lot is the Guntersville, Alabama Drink Like Helen B. Happy (Drink like hell and be happy, a phrase that dates back to at least the 1910's) cover. There's no manumark, so who knows what it was advertising besides 7 Up.

Helen B. Happy is a different image when turned upside down, on left.

Industrial Matchcovers

Three matchcovers advertising box manufacturing companies

Underwater cutting.

Great colors in this older McMurty House Paint matchcover.

Interesting robot looking mascot.

Road Signs

I read years ago that when U.S. Route 1 was the major thoroughfare from Maine to Key West, Florida (long before  95 became along) that there were so many businesses along certain stretches of U.S. 1 that it was hard for travelers to actually find the driveway of the place they wanted to stop at. Someone had the idea of adding a huge arrow to their sign and have it pointing right at the location of their business, whether it was a motel, restaurant or other. That turned into an art form of it's own. Below are a few examples of business owners that smartly included an illustration of their sign on the matchbooks they provided.

Diners

Twins

Which came first, The American Restaurant & Bar or Headline Bar and Restaurant? Who knows, maybe they both were in business at the same time in the 1000 room Hotel Times Square in New York City.

These two twin covers always intrigued me. Isbells was a Chicago restaurant and Carl's Bar is in Detroit, Michigan. Two different eras, two different manumarks. 

These two covers for the O-Mi Motel and Lido Motel are less twins than they are cousins. They both have a Match Corp of America manumark and are from the same era. Most likely  the same Match Corp artist created both of them.

Tea Reader

The Copper Bowl was located in Washington, DC near where Barnes and Noble is now. The cover isn't visually that interesting, but the message on the saddle is: Tea Reader At Tea Time and Dinner Time. Tea reading, also known as tasseomancy, tasseography or teomancy is an old form of divination found across the world. 

Coffee

Before there was Starbucks with their expensive sweetened coffee, surly hipster baristas, scones, paninis and bistro boxes, there were coffee shops. These coffee shops offered everything from pancakes to grilled cheese, but common to all of them was coffee, which you could get one of two ways; black or with cream and sugar. 

Below are some coffee shop covers that reflect that era.

Cocktail Bars & Lounges

I someone told me one time that they collect matchbook covers with cocktail glasses on them. It's a pretty cool idea and some of the covers are really nice. While sorting last night I pulled out a few of them.