The exhibit committee, which is now under the direction of Suzi Andrews, has installed our newest exhibit in the society’s case in the foyer of the Jamestown Philomenian Library.  This exhibit takes us back to the days when everyone – or almost everyone – smoked cigarettes.

Matchbooks were everywhere. Companies used the outside, and sometimes the inside, of the matchbooks to advertise their wares and services.  On display are matchbooks advertising everything from restaurants, like the Bay View Bar and Grille in Bay View Hotel owned and operated in the 1950s by Manuel Silvia, to the Jamestown Water Taxi that George West, Jr. ran between Newport and Quonset.  The military issued their own matchbooks for each fort during World War II.

Stop by and take a look – ashtrays are on display, too.