Smoking around the Christmas tree...

As someone who loves vintage Christmas ornaments and decorations, I got a kick out of the Christmas matchbooks in this collection. By today's standards, cigarettes and Christmas greetings don't mix, but back in the 40's and 50's, it was thought of as a sweet gesture to give someone a Christmas matchbook as a small token, and it was especially classy if one could afford to get their names printed on them. Every time your friend lit a cigarette, they would look at the matchbook and think of you. 

I loved that there were designs even on the matches themselves. My favorite was the candelabra, with each match representing a candle. I never knew that matches could be so adorable.

I do remember picking them up when we'd go to restaurants or stay at motels when I was a little girl. Nobody in my family smoked, but I knew they'd come in handy for lighting fireworks or birthday candles or something. My grandparents had a whole bowl of them that I used to enjoy looking at, which were mini stories of places they'd been. 

The idea of LIGHTING a match used to scare me, and it seemed like something you had to get right the first time, You had to strike it with the fastest speed and precision, or else you'd burn your hand off or your house down. So, I let my parents do the striking. I enjoyed the scent though. To this day it reminds me of birthday cake.  

Thank you to fortiesnutcase for creating this fun YouTube video. I have a special place in my heart for Ohio, so I was especially happy to see so many from Ohio. He also has a neat video of The Mecca Motel in Sandusky, Ohio, which was the motel shown on one of these match books. Here's the Mecco Motel video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCe1ewgs6bg&feature=related