Matchbook Memories

My grandmother saved everything from family photos and poems she cut out from newspapers to menus and postcards from my grandparents' travels. And matchbooks...many many matchbooks. After my grandmother passed away in 1997, my brother took her big box of matches and stored them away in his attic. A fall 2024 clean out prompted my brother to pass along the collection to me, so I decided to take photos of them for documentation—I am after all, the "family historian."

As an artist and designer, I appreciate the illustrations, typography, and design of each one. There's silver and blue tipped matches, embossing, texture that resembles seaweed, beer-shaped matches, interesting shapes, and more. As a granddaughter, I marvel at all the places my grandparents visited, both inside and outside of their home town of Boston. I always wished I had a journal belonging to my grandparents, but in a way, all the mementos they saved are a diary.

I have looked up each location and learned a little about the history of every restaurant, bar, and hotel they went to. I thought about including the history of each one, but that would make this blog post entirely too long. However, I do encourage you to look up some of these locations, as many do have historical significance.

(This page will be periodically updated, with the newest ones added at the top)