Old Houston Matchbooks

My parents used to collect matchbooks from all over and kept them in a little basket in our house. They started doing this before I was born.

Recently my parents passed away, and since then I’ve been having a hard time getting ownership of the house. I don’t have a will, and no one in my family who does will share it with me, so dealing with the mortgage company has been a nightmare. They won’t let me into the house or even tell me how much I owe, yet I still have to keep paying.

We set up cameras after people broke in while I was taking care of my mom in the hospital, but the mortgage company had them removed, saying I wasn’t allowed to. Not long after, the house was broken into again. This time the place was completely torn apart by people looking for anything valuable. I think they stole a bunch of my parents’ old records, which were worth a lot. They even went into the attic, fell through the ceiling, and crashed into my childhood bedroom. That’s how badly they wrecked the house.

When I went to check on the damage, some people assigned by the bank were there to look after the house, and they were nice enough to let me inside to grab a few things. I saw the basket of matchbooks scattered all over the floor, so I cleaned most of them up and took them with me.

I don’t really know what to do with them, but they tell a lot of my parents’ story and also a piece of Houston’s history. So I thought I’d post some pictures here to see if anyone’s interested. Most of these matchbooks are at least 30 years old, if not older.

If people like this, I’ll keep sharing, since I have hundreds — maybe even thousands — more. And if you recognize any of the places they’re from or have memories of them, leave a comment so I can learn more about them.

And check out @evman50 on Instagram if you want to see more modern stuff (mostly food).