WHY DO YOU LIKE AND COLLECT MATCHES?
Matches serve as memories for me. I take them from my favorite hotels and restaurants around the world, and whenever I pick them up I recall exactly where I was and who I was with when I got them. I also love the smell of matches—candles are very central Jewish liturgy so my earliest memories of matches are when my mom used them to light the candles on Shabbat or Hannukah, and the smell brings back happy memories of my family, amazing meals, and gifts.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE ONES AND WHY?
My favorite matchbook is a vintage one that belonged to my grandmother. It is decorated with a drawing of a cat and a mushroom, and it was clearly handmade. I think my grandmother found it at an antique store and it is absolutely falling apart, but I will always treasure it. Coming in at a close second are a set of matches decorated with funny cat illustrations that my boyfriend gave me shortly after we started dating—I think they were the first gift he ever gave me, and they make me happy whenever I look at them.
WHEN AND HOW DO YOU LIKE TO ENJOY YOUR MATCHES?
Sometimes I enjoy them just by looking at them—I keep my favorites in a lucite Louis Vuitton box so I can always see them. But I use them to light candles next to my bed, or candlesticks on my dinner table, or to smoke (I always prefer them to the garish plastic lighters that everyone else seems to have).
