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Carmel Magazine Digital Edition SU16

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i n t a g e Ve g a s . I t w a s a l l a b o u t t h e n e o n , t h e g a m bl e rs , t h e s h o w g i rl s , t h e s h a rk s a n d t h e $ 1 . 9 9 s t e a k d i n n e r. A n o a s i s i n a s e a o f p a r c h e d l a n d , f a s c i n a t i n g f o r a l l t h e p e rv e rs e r e a s o n s , w h e r e e v e ry b o d y s m o k e d a n d d ra n k . T h e ye a r i s 1 9 6 5 . T h e R a t Pa c k ru l e s . T h e y we r e c a l l e d w h i t e s o u l , w i t h - o u t t h e s o u l . E n t e rt a i n m e n t w a s l i v e i n a l o u n g e w h e r e yo u c o u l d ru b e l b ow s w i t h S a m my b e f o r e h e b e c a m e a l e g e n d . I a rri v e d i n L a s Ve g a s l o n g a f t e r t h e s w a g g e r o f t h e R a t Pa c k a n d t h e l o u n g e l i z a r d s . M y a i rp l a n e s e a t h a d a c ri s p w h i t e l i n e n s q u a r e p i n n e d b e h i n d my h e a d f o r c l e a n l i n e s s , ye t w a s f l a n ke d by a s h t ra y s . T i m e wo u l d e v e n t u a l ly e v o l v e b o t h i n t o o b s c u - ri t y. I w a s yo u n g , bu t I s m o ke d t h e n . We a l l d i d . As I s t e p p e d o u t o f t h a t j e t l i n e r, t h e h o t d e s e rt a i r h i t my f a c e l i ke a s a u n a . M a y b e i t w a s t h e w h i t e h a l - t e r d r e s s I wo r e t h a t m a d e m e fe e l l i ke M a ri ly n , bu t I r e c a l l h av i n g t h e u rg e t o w av e t o p e o p l e b e l ow a s t hey oft en di d i n t hose 1950s m ov i es. Pa sseng ers exi t ed d ow n s t a irs in t h os e days . F l yin g wa s s pecia l a n d s om ewh a t g l a m o r o u s ; n o t l i ke t oday, bein g h erded t h rou g h g ia n t t u bes s pillin g ou t in t o t h e a i rp o rt . M ement os of t hat d ecad ent era t hat have survi ved are the simplest of col l ect i ons: t he mat chb ooks. The casi nos want ed smokers to remember t hei r vacat i ons, so t hey p l aced mat ches i n every room, every ashtray and in al l t he b ars and rest aurant s. They fi gured every t i me you opened that match cover and you l i t your ci gar or ci garet t e, you'd see t he hotel advertising on it, and with a 21-strike, you'd be opening that match cover 21 times. In the early 20th centur y, businesses saw matchbooks as a unique form of adver tising. Nearly ever y company offered free matches in paper covers splashed with ads. They were incredib ly inexpensiv e, mobile, and ubiquitous. You carried it with you. No one used and inter - a cted with a n a d lik e th a t. D u ri n g t h e D e p r e s s i o n , L i o n M a t c h C o m p a ny, d e c i d e d t o t a k e m a t c h - b o o k a d v e rt i s i n g u p a n o t c h . A r o u n d 1 9 3 5 , L i o n i n t r o d u c e d a n d t ra d e - m a rk e d t h e c o n c e p t o f " fe a t u r e m a t c h e s ." T h e g e n i u s o f t h i s c r e a t i o n w a s t h a t yo u d i d n ' t j u s t s e e t h e a d v e rt i s i n g o n t h e c ov e r ; t h e m a t c h e s a l s o r e m i n d e d yo u o f t h e p r o d u c t . S o m e fe a t u r e m a t c h b o o k s h av e i m a g e s p ri n t e d a c r o s s t h e w h o l e r ow o f m a t c h e s . O n o t h e rs , e a c h m a t c h i s a l i t t l e wo rk o f a rt , r e s e m bl i n g a p a i n t b ru s h , a b e e r b o t t l e, a b ow l i n g p i n , a wo m a n 's l e g , o r a n a ke d d a n c - i n g g i rl . An o t h e r a d d e d t o u c h o n s o m e, a s o n t h e H o rs e s h o e C l u b, T h e We s t e rn e r a n d t h e o n e d e p i c t - i n g t h e o n e - a rm e d b a n d i t , i s t h a t t h e y a r e n o t s t ra i g h t - s i d e d bu t h av e e x t e n s i o n s o u t t h e s i d e s . T h e s e a r e " C o nt o ur" ma t c hes a nd, a re a s d e s i ra bl e a s t h e fe a t u r e s . Ve g a s fe a t u r e m a t c h b o o k s h a d g r e a t g ra p h i c s t h a t r e f l e c t e d a r c h i - te ctu ral l y j u st h o w th e i r h ote l s a p p e a r e d t h e n . S i n c e m o s t o f t h e h o t e l s p i c t u r e d h e r e h ave b e e n i m p l o d e d a n d n o l o n g e r e x i s t , t h i s b e c o m e s o f g r e a t i n t e r e s t , h i s t o ri c a l ly. T h e Sa n d s H o t e l , w h i c h w a s t h e X a n a d u o f R a t Pa c k l o r e, d e p i c t s e a c h m a t c h a s a p e n g u i n . I n s i d e t h e E l R a n c h o Ve g a s b o o k a r e c ow b oy s i n c h a p s . T h e La s t F r o n t i e r s h ow c a s e s h i g h - k i c k i n g s a l o o n g a l s , w h i l e t h e Lu c k y St ri ke C l u b r e a d s l i ke a B i n g o C a r d . T h e T h u n d e r b i r d , Sa h a ra a n d t h e We s t e rn e r a l l h ave i m a g e s p ri n t e d a c r o s s t h e w h o l e r ow. Ob viousl y, with f eature matches, the k ey is to find a full book. While collectors of ordinary matchbooks will often remove the matches and display the book cover flattened out, collectors of features want every match to be accounted f or and in good condition. When one would receive the feature-type, they often sat un used because people set them aside and said, 'I don't want to use this, it's too cool," explaining why 114 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R / F A L L 2 0 1 6 COLLECTING T E X T A N D P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y M A R J O R I E S N O W Vintage Matchbooks Symbolize a Bygone Era V O n e o f t h e few c a s i n o s t h a t re m a i n , T h e G o l d e n N u g ge t , a d ow n t ow n la ndma r k , pro duce d f e a t ure ma t che s in a sma lle r 1 5 - st r ike bo o k .

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