$25.00 USD
Business listed on matchbook: Wander Inn Tavern
Business now on Google Maps at that location: Still Wander Inn Tavern
Slogan on matchbook: Just Good Food
Size of matchbook: approximately 1.5 wide x 2 tall x ¼ thick inch
Overall condition of matchbook: Very nice condition, small amount of wear mainly just to edge of striker. No matches have been removed.
Date sketch was completed: 12/27/2011
Location of business: Mishawaka, IN
Edition number: 1/1
Your item will be shipped within 1-3 business days in a bubble mailer and inside a small gift box (an example of the box with another matchbook is shown in the last photograph). I will also include a small, clear ziploc style bag (approximately 3 by 5.5 inches), a small alligator clip, and a small nail for some hanging possibilities (examples also shown in the last photograph).
Matchbook Landscape: I first got started on Matchbook Landscapes with a small collection of old matchbooks my then 90 year old grandfather-in-law Pete had in a plastic baggie in the back of his junk drawer. I salvaged his matchbooks when he was downsizing from the home he lived in for over sixty years, where he and his wife raised their family.
For each matchbook I find where the location of the business would be in Google Maps and on the inside cover of the matchbook I make a pencil sketch of whatever is now shown at this location. On average each drawing takes about two hours to complete. Sometimes the places advertised on the matchbooks are still in business even after decades have passed, some businesses have changed names and are under new ownership, and some buildings are empty or have been torn down and replaced by new buildings or parking lots or highway expansion programs and even empty fields. The age of the matchbooks I use vary, but all are a unique view into the previous business and the dreams of its owner and how these places and by extension all places and our histories change over time. Even the story of matchbooks has evolved and what was once a common item to give out to promote a business has now become a vintage item, rarer to find except in antique stores and our own junk drawers.
Please visit more of my matchbooks at: http://xa.pcmxa.com/
All content © 2011-2012 Krista Charles.