Matchcovers are often considered a hobby for visual enjoyment but they, like postcards, can contribute to the historical narrative as well. This factor is often overlooked. For example, a series of postcards from a motel printed and distributed over the years may allow a researcher to see the progression of owners/proprietors and the changing of features like the opening and/or closing of an on-premises café or gas station, or the addition of rooms or a swimming pool. Matchcovers sometimes have much of the same information as postcards (but without the important picture, of course.). But matchbooks and matchcovers can make a much more comprehensive collection than postcards. Why? Well, most Route 66 businesses that had postcards for distribution had matchbooks too. But more importantly the reverse is not true. Whereas many motels offered both postcards and matchbooks, most other traveler-oriented businesses, like restaurants, cafes, and gasoline stations, only distributed matchbooks and they never offered postcards. In many cases the only way today to acquire a bit of history from these long-ago businesses is to acquire a matchbook or matchcover.
Let’s look at a few examples from notable businesses on Route 66 and see what matchcovers can tell us.
My first example is from the Dixie Trucker’s Home in McLean, IL, where the earliest matchcover that we have found states that the business was first called the “Trucker’s Dixie Home” an early reference name that I can not find in any Route 66 book and on only a few websites.
My second example is from the famous Ariston Restaurant. It was begun by Pete Adam in Carlinville, IL, and nearly everything that I have read states that when Route 66 was shifted to the east in about 1930, Pete Adam “moved” the business to Litchfield, IL. Well, to me “moving” means you close down one location and move the restaurant equipment, fixtures, seating, etc., to the new location. Almost every book that I have read and website that I have visited (I have not visited them all) uses some take on the verb “move.” Then why does the earliest matchcover we can find from the Ariston list two locations (Carlinville and Litchfield)? That matchcover is proof that both locations were once active at the same time.
And speaking of the Ariston, what’s with the matchcover that says “Boyd’s Ariston Restaurant”? The common narrative is that the restaurant had been run by members of the founding Adam family until they sold it in 2018. As it turns out a local Illinois historian confirmed that the Boyd’s did lease and operate the Ariston for about five years in the early 1960s.
A third example comes from the famous Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, NM. We know for fact that the motel (first called the Blue Swallow Court) was built in about 1940 by W. A. Huggins. We also know the ownership history from 1958 on which included most significantly Lillian Redman and her husband Floyd, followed by several owning families from 1998 to the present. But what about the time period between Mr. Huggins and the Redmans? The only owner name that I have ever seen mentioned is Mr. and Mrs. Ted Jones as there is a photochrome postcard (McGarr AKS-410) with their picture on it. But a matchcover in this archive indicates that Edward and Roberta Vance were the “New Owners.” That particular matchcover throws a new element into the ownership record as far as I know.
My fourth example is from the famous Club Cafe in Santa Rosa, NM. A few websites say incorrectly it was opened by Philip Craig and Floyd Shaw in 1935. But most websites state correctly that it was actually opened by Nute Epps that year. Other references indicate that Floyd Shaw and Phillip Craig acquired the property several years later from the Epps family. That’s true insofar as it goes but matchcovers reveal a more nuanced history. The oldest green matchcover from the Club Café indeed indicates that the owner and proprietor was Nute Epps but the next one has two names on it: Nute Epps and Philip Craig. Perhaps they both co-owned it, or perhaps Mr. Epps owned the business and Mr. Craig was the manager: it is not clear. The next several matchcovers have both Philip Craig and Floyd Shaw’s names on them and this partnership lasted through halcyon era of Route 66. The point is that the sequence of matchcovers validated a transition from the Epps family ownership to Epps and Craig and then to the Craig and Shaw era of ownership.
So, beyond the obvious visual appeal of matchcovers, they may have historical research value too.