Here are some quotes from the article written BY SCOTT REITZ
"Some of the matchbook memories are more visceral than others. A blue box marks a memorable dinner I had with my mom at Zatinya in D.C. A black one with thin white lettering marks a birthday party where all my friends gathered to mark my third decade of not dying. I like those matches for far more than candle-lighting. Digging through the bowl is like paging through a photo album filled with my life's great meals.
... the business cards that have replaced [restaurants'] boxes don't have the same appeal. I'll grab one when I walk into a restaurant, but then it just sits in my wallet until the corners round and I dump them out on my dresser like playing cards. The restaurant Rolodex doesn't have nearly the romance as my bowl of matches. I need that strike of sulfur to ignite my memories.
We bet you'll never guess what was valued at as much as $3,000 on a recent episode of "Pawn Stars..."
Matchboxes. Wait, what?!
But wait, these weren’t just any old matchboxes — they were from Led Zeppelin’s legendary Boeing 720 plane, The Starship One. (Video via YouTube / Thanasis Papadimitrou)
"If you framed them up and presented them well, $2,500 to $3,000 dollars for these," said Warwick on "Pawn Stars.""$2,500 might seem like a lot for some matches, but rock and roll collectors would go crazy for this stuff."
After an expert [in paper ephemera] examined the matchboxes, they were deemed authentic.
And if that wasn't cool enough, each box included The Starship One's logo and the names of several important passengers it carried over the years, including Elton John, Peter Frampton and Alice Cooper. Rock on.
To order your business' own branded matchboxes get in touch with the experts at TheMatchGroup and call us at 800.605.7331 to get the painless process started today!Read more
All you Hard Core (and not so Hard Core) Match Collectors out there, please be sure to check out my new FB Group "Advertising Match Book & Match Box Collectors Group"
Lots of great pics of a sampling of #matchbooks and #matchboxes that Joe Danon and #TheMatchGroup have produced over the past 28 years! Please feel free to post pics of examples from your match collections. Enjoy!
To order your business' own branded matches go to: www.GetMatches.com or CALL 800.605.7331 Today!
Believe it or not, smoking was banned on domestic flights only 25 years ago!
"It’s probably difficult for anyone who isn’t middle-aged or older to comprehend, but people could smoke cigarettes on airplanes until Feb. 25, 1990. That’s when the federal government, after years of pressure from a union, the Association of Flight Attendants, finally banned smoking on all but a handful of domestic flights over six hours in duration. Ten years later, smoking was prohibited on flights between the United States and foreign destinations. Today, virtually every commercial flight in the world is smoke-free."
Prior to that period from the beginning of air travel smoking was permitted on ALL FfLights -Domestic and International.
Here is a collection of airline advertising match books that were distributed in the airport terminals and on board the aircraft.
"The flight attendants union began fighting for a smoking ban in the late 1960s, against fierce opposition from the tobacco industry. “It was a real uphill battle,” Ms. Nelson said. “For us this was a workplace issue; we had members who were experiencing shortness of breath and all of the problems created by secondhand smoke, up to and including deadly diseases like lung cancer. We really were the tipping point that allowed for smoke-free workplaces in this country."
"Robin Koval, the president of Legacy, a nonprofit organization that works to discourage tobacco use among young people, said that flight attendants’ efforts were crucial in creating smoke-free workplaces for everyone."
Today, advertising matches are used for lighting candles, barbecues, fireplaces, camping -anywhere instant fire is needed! While those that smoke rely upon butane lighters to light their cigars or cigarettes.
To order your business' own branded #match books or #matchboxes contact TheMatchGroup or CALL 800.605.7331 TODAY!
"With the rise of the Internet, people have come to expect instant service, yet the match industry is still a smokestack industry," said Joe Danon...."The production mechanisms all date back to World War II or before -- there are no new match factories coming on line -- and so the production side has not risen to the level that the current marketplace expects."
The situation can be remedied. Danon rushes through first orders for new clients, and then gets clients on automatic reorder schedules so that no one ever runs out. He also spends a lot of time making nice to clients who can't understand why it takes less than a day to get business cards printed, and more than two months to get matchbooks.
NO SMOKING
As for the presumed bigger problem, the stop-smoking craze, Danon said it hardly comes up any more.
"As an advertising vehicle, restaurant owners have learned that toothpicks don't cut it. Business cards don't cut it. They just don't have the same perceived value," he said. "You can pay a dollar for a business card and still get better value from a 5-cent matchbook because it is in essence a functional business card. It is something people can use."
Pic Credit: Salma Hayek Times Magazine
To order your business' own branded #matchbooks or #matchboxes GoTo: TheMatchGroup or CALL 800.605.7331 to speak with one of our Match Mavens TODAY!
Lots of great pics of a sampling of #matchbooks and #matchboxes that Joe Danon and #TheMatchGroup have produced over the past 28 years! Please feel free to post pics of examples from your match collections. Enjoy!
