Most of the country has prohibited customers from smoking in restaurants. Yet a reminder of a time when it was okay to light up before dessert refuses to flame out: the matchbook.
Statewide smoking bans tend to slow matchbook sales initially, but restaurant owners always return to the matchbooks.
The New York Times says “in an era of instant information access and viral publicity, logo-bearing matches may have the edge as ambassadors that convey distinction in their very physicality.”
Photo by Hang Fire Books.