• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About | Press
  • Up the Waterfall
  • Media Kit

ZANNALAND!

Past. Present. Future. Fun.

  • Latest News
    • Top Stories
    • Disney News
    • Disney Movie News & Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
  • Places to Explore
    • Walt Disney World
    • Universal Orlando Resort
    • Disneyland Resort
    • Orlando Area Resorts
    • Disneyland Resort Paris
    • Disney Cruise Line
  • Things to Do
    • Disney Dining
    • Disney Special Events
    • D23 Expo
    • RunDisney
    • Travel, Theme Parks, and Resorts
    • Florida Theme Parks & Attractions
      • Universal Orlando Resort
      • Medieval Times
      • LEGOLAND Florida
      • Busch Gardens
      • Sea World Orlando
    • Orlando Area Resorts
    • Central Florida Family Entertainment
  • Up the Waterfall Podcast

Original Chef Mickeys

Close Cover Before Striking: Walt Disney World Matchbooks From Days Gone By

28 June 2010 by Suzannah Otis 20 Comments

On that fateful trip I often speak about in 1983, in addition to starting my obsession with Disney, I also began a new tradition of collecting matches. When I chose that particular item to collect, I never once thought a time would come when my collecting would become increasingly difficult to near impossible. Some of you reading this may remember, while others of you may have had your parents tell you – back in the 80’s times were very different. Non-smoking sections were just becoming an option and if you could find one, it was usually only separated by a single table. With two smokers for parents, we were always in the smoking section so often times a new set of matches would be waiting for us on the table inside the cleaned ashtray. If they weren’t, you simply had to ask the hostess, bartender, or server for a book and they would oblige without a second thought.

It wasn’t until the litigious era of suing bars because a book of matches was found in the car of a driver who had caused an accident, that times began to change. Some restaurants turned to plain matchbook covers so as to remove that element of liability for not cutting off a drinker before damage was done. At the same time, tobacco companies were under fire for cigarettes’ carcinogen effects as well as something new that was being studied – second-hand smoke. As the non-smoking section became a redundant request, soon it was a waste of money for most establishments to have matches printed and available. Now, almost 30 years later, it is almost impossible to find unique printed matches to collect.

Which is why I love my collection all the more. It is now a time capsule of sorts from both my childhood memories, and from a time gone by that can never be revisited again.  Of course the matches I collected on our many trips to Walt Disney World are what I’d like to share with you today. They offer glimpses of the way things used to be in the world – and the World. Matches from EPCOT with the original logo, Disney-MGM Studios, Pleasure Island, Fireworks Factory, and the original Chef Mickeys located in the Disney Village Marketplace. Tiny little treasure boxes almost as good as any E-ticket – to me anyway…


Disney Matchbooks
Can you identify them all? (There are a few non-Disney but now-defunct extras in there too)




Disney Matchbooks
The original Chef Mickey's Village Restaurant, Pleasure Island, and The Fireworks Factory - listed as "A signature of theLevy restaurants"




Disney Matchbooks
The back of The Fireworks Factory matches


Do you have any Disney matches or another collection that is now defunct? I’d love to hear about them!

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares

Filed Under: Disney Past Tagged With: 1980s, Disney collections, Disney matchbook covers, Disney matches, Disney past, Disney-MGM Studios, EPCOT Center, Fireworks Factory, Jungle Jims, Original Chef Mickeys, Pleasure Island, Walt Disney World

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST

Get Some Park Candy!

Park CandyUse code ZANNA at checkout for 10% off your entire order!

FAVORITE VLOG

https://youtu.be/jUQvxcguh9o

Click below to SUBSCRIBE to our latest Vlogs & LIVE Shows!

Recent Posts

  • The History of Celebration Florida – Up the Waterfall Episode 45
  • What’s Included: D23 Gold Membership Duo Plan Announced
  • Closest Hotel to Disney Springs – We Explore the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista
  • Disneyland’s Tomorrowland ’67 – Up the Waterfall Episode 44
  • Wishes Come True Blue ShopDisney Collection
  • Ranking Extinct Disney Attractions – Up the Waterfall Episode 44
  • Hilton Bonnet Creek & Waldorf Astoria Food & Wine Weekends Return
  • Holiday Magic at the Disney Parks Book Review – Up the Waterfall
  • Hidden Details of the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World – Up the Waterfall
  • Scariest Disney Rides! – Up the Waterfall Episode 41

Zannaland Archives

Footer

zannaland

Zanna • WDW Local Magic
Follow on Instagram

Copyright Zannaland © 2021