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Matchbooks, Boxes and Covers

by David Thompson

Item 2903 in the PMHPS Collection is a matchbox cover from around 1938 advertising the Freemason’s Tavern.

Freemason’s Tavern matchbox cover, c 1938. PMHPS Collection Cat No 2903.

Promotional matchbooks, matchboxes and matchbox covers* have gone out of fashion with less people smoking and the ban on smoking in public places in recent years plus the convenience of using disposal lighters compared to using matches.

The Freemason’s Tavern, on the corner of Beach and Stokes Streets, operated from 1859 to 1946 when it was rebuilt in a clean, modern style and renamed the Sandridge Hotel. The hotel closed in 1996 and by early 2007 a single wall facing Stokes Street was all that remained but that too, was soon demolished and an approximate facsimile of the Victorian-style Freemason’s Tavern was built and incorporated into the subsequent apartment complex.

Both side of the Freemason’s Tavern matchbox cover. PMHPS Collection, Cat No 2903.

The matchbox cover has horse racing photos on each side. One side shows the finish of the 1937 Caulfield Cup, won by The Trump and the other shows the finish of the 1937 Melbourne Cup, also won by The Trump.

This was only the second time a horse had won the Caulfield-Melbourne Cup double after Poseidon in 1906. Only ten other horses have completed the double – Rivette (1939), Rising Fast (1954), Even Stevens (1962), Galilee (1966), Gurner’s Lane (1982), Let’s Elope (1991), Doriemus (1995), Might and Power (1997), Ethereal (2001) and Without a Fight (2023).

Let’s look at some other matchbooks, boxes and covers from the Collection.

City of Port Melbourne WWII matchbox cover. PMHPS Collection, Cat No 2785.

The Society holds a very special matchbox cover (item 2785). Port Melbourne Council gave these covers to Port soldiers heading off to WWII. The front has the City of Port Melbourne crest and the back has the following message –

THE MAYOR, COUNCILLORS
AND CITIZENS OF THE CITY
OF PORT MELBOURNE
extend to you all Good Wishes for a
safe and speedy return – Cheerio!

Port Melbourne Bowling Club matchbook. PMHPS Collection, Cat No 3990.

Our next item, a yellow Port Melbourne Bowling Club matchbook (item 3990), has club president, Fred Winduss, “Wishing all Members a Happy Season”. Fred Winduss was also a Councillor from 1974 to 1989 and served as Mayor five times.

Korea House Restaurant matchbook. PMHPS Collection, Cat No 4624.

I’m prepared to declare this matchbook (item 4624) is a bit of a mystery. Clearly it is promoting the Korea House Restaurant at 79 Bay Street but when was there a Korean restaurant in Port? From the six-digit phone number it could be anytime from the 1960s to the 1980s. The sixties feels too early so perhaps it is from the 1970s or 80s. Do you remember this restaurant?

Matchbox, Fred Cook’s Station Hotel. PMHPS Collection, Cat No 4245.

This matchbox promoting Fred Cook’s Station Hotel (item 4245) is a recent acquisition from eBay. The Station Hotel was established at the corner of Station and Bridge Streets in 1866. Fred Cook is, of course, the champion Port Melbourne goalkicker so the football motifs on the matchbox are a nice touch. He took over the hotel in 1982. The Station was converted into three town houses in 1995.

Matchbook, Fountain Inn. PMHPS Collection, Cat No 3353.

Although it bears an old photograph of the Fountain Inn, the seven-digit phone number on this matchbook (item 3353) indicates it dates to either the 1980s or 90s. The Fountain Inn was established in 1860 and stood at the top of Bay Street under that name until 1994 when it became the Blarney Stone Irish Pub. So the matchbook must have been made prior to 1995. The Blarney Stone lasted until 1999 and the pub has gone by several names since then including The Hurdle, Crockford Bay, The Drifter’s Alibi and The Sloaney Pony. It still stands today where Bay Street and Crockford Street meet as The Corner Stone.

Matchbook, The Flower. PMHPS Collection, Cat No 4623.

The site in Bay Street that became The Flower Hotel starting life as the George Hotel in 1874 and in 1898 it was renamed the Moonee Valley Hotel. During the First World War in 1916 it was rebuilt in highly-decorative Edwardian style and named The Flower hotel. In the 1960s it was remodelled again in an extremely plain style of that decade and in the 1990s it was completely rebuilt yet again with tall windows that opened onto the street. This matchbook (item 4623) probably comes from this period when The Flower operated as a popular bistro/wine bar. In the first century of the 21st century the building was completely gutted and converted into apartments and shops. One of those shops is now the newsagent. Incredibly there is still a remnant of the old Edwardian Flower Hotel. If you stand on the opposite side of Bay Street and look up to the roofline you’ll see a solitary chimney from the old hotel.

Matchbox, Pier Hotel and Piranha Lounge. PMHPS Collection, Cat No 360.

The seven-digit phone number confirms this matchbox (item 360) promoting the Pier Hotel is from the 1980s or 90s. But really, doesn’t the design just scream those decades. Plus the size. So small compared to the boxes that fitted those earlier matchbox covers or indeed a box of household matches you’d buy in the shops today.

Another mystery though. Does anyone remember the Piranha Lounge? Knowing when it was operating at the Pier Hotel would help us date the matchbox more accurately.

Promotional items provide an interesting glimpse into our history. As we have seen they capture a point in time and often reflect the style of the period. It let’s us remember when young men went off to war or a champion Port full forward owned a pub and let’s us try to find out more about the Korea House restaurant or the Piranha Lounge at the Pier Hotel.

*A matchbox cover is a U-shaped, usually metal, object that slips over a standard matchbox.


Further Reading

Chartered Scoundrels – A brief history of Port Melbourne Hotels by Pat Grainger

Pubs in Port – a snapshot from the nineties

Caulfield Cup, Wikipedia

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We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet and work, the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.