Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Satan's Flaming Inferno!
So what else could Karswell possibly collect, you ask? How about old 1950's and 60's matchbooks! Being particularly fond of devil and fire imagery, the 3 examples in today's post might be the cream of my extensive matchbook crop. Sample One below: is this not the coolest matchbook you've ever seen? And make sure you read the inside too-- man, I want to go here! One interesting sidenote: My buddy Andrew has a matchbook almost identical to this, but the address on his is actually for a long gone location that was right here in STL, same name and everything, somewhere near the Central West End on Lindell (anyone remember it? Could "The Inferno" have been a chain 40+ years ago?) Sample Two: would have undoubtably made a great blacklight poster or heavy metal album cover, and Sample Three: is unfortunately not the same Flaming Pit Restaurant that many of us St. Louisans fondly remember, but it is still indeed a tremendous matchbook design!
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11 comments:
Pilk's Flaming Pit!!
Nothing like hobnobbing with ol' Scoots down at the Inferno. Makes a man feel like a mobster!
Well Blogger's getting buggy as heck lately. where are the comments?
Karswell: You son of a gun! Matchbook collecting is one genre that has tempted me many times over the years, and these examples are perfect examples of the appeal. What fantastic, completely disposable graphic art!
Where I grew up (suburbs of Detroit), The Flaming Pit was a barbeque joint.
awesome! the "Flaming Thing", yet! it is to laugh...
>perfect examples of the appeal.
Matchbook collecting is fairly inexpensive too, you can find lots of great designs for relatively nothing at antique malls and ebay of course. A random bag loaded wth 100 matchbooks will certainly contain a few gems and still be cheaper than an old comic book... I have hundreds and will post more of them in the future, in particular a collection of specific establishments both alive and dead here in STL. Thanks Mykal, and let me know what you find.(fyi: there's a Flaming Pit matchboook exactly like this one on ebay right now for $9.95)
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-DENVERS-FLAMING-PIT-MATCHBOOK-COVER-W-DRINK-/360235032612?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53dfae6024
>the "Flaming Thing"
Must have been quite a fancy drink to have it's own gorgeously designed matchbook, eh Prof?
Mykal mentioned The Flaming Pit in Detroit being a BBQ joint, the one here in STL was more a huge smorgasboard of everything, as well as a place for banquets and other large type gatherngs. I remember the food being excellent, but most memorable (and the thing I miss the most) was the absolutely stunning giant flaming neon sign out front along Watson Road (aka Route 66.) At night when all lit up it was breathtaking.
Okay, please NOTE: Mr C is right, and apologies to anyone who commented on this post and now find it gone... there was obviously some big balls up with blogger recently, as not only have random comments from you (and myself) just evaporated, but it's been tough to even get the blogger dashboard to open just to simply upload new posts. I will try again later today, as well as over at THOIA. Thanks, and once again sorry about the glitchies!
These are so freaking cool! My matchbooks are all packed away right now but you're making me want to haul them out.
Carol, haul them out!
I'll see what I can do...
How's it going with the haulin', sister?
No the inferno was not a franchise. My dad Scoots owned it in Kansas City, mo
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