Book Matches

Does anyone use book matches besides me? Hello? Anyone out there?

I keep book matches on the back of the commode. For the uneducated, they're good for eliminating odors. I no longer keep cans of aerosolized chemicals and fragrance in the bathroom. I'm not a fanatic about it, just prefer chemicals in matches to chemicals in aerosol cans.

We used to buy boxes of book matches from H & L Novelties, at an on-line site called Incensematch.com. Those matches were amazing. You light the match, shake it out, and it continues to smolder for a little while emitting the incense smell you bought. I liked vanilla, sandalwood, and spice. Well, we were about to run out of incense matches sometime in September of last year, so I went to my trusty computer to buy some more. They were out! What the heck? Seems one of the companies supplying them went out of business. They had a "Coming Soon!" sign on their site though, so I decided to wait for a while. Then, at the end of November, I emailed Insencematch.com to find out when they'd have some product available. They did email back to say sometime in the first part of December, but here we are in February and their site still says "Coming Soon!". What's a girl with a shared bathroom to do?

It's time I resign myself to using regular "book" matches and forget those lovely incenses. So I get into my trusty stored supplies and get out the package of book matches I bought about 5+ years ago for emergencies. Now THEY are almost gone.

I went to four stores yesterday while running errands. Winco, Grocery Outlet, Ace Hardware, and our little local Myrtletown Hardware. None of them had book matches for sale. I was told that our restaurant supply store *may* have some, but none of the salespeople I asked knew for sure where I could find them. WHAT???!!! Aren't book matches as common as those multiplying hangers in our closets? Hotels, bars, insurance companies use them as promos, right? They used to just show up everywhere for free and now they can't be had at any price? What are they going to do for clues in detective movies? Or is this just a regional shortage?

I'm guessing that book matches are going the way of the 8-track and soon, the newspaper, the book, the coffee shop (as the go-to place for coffee). I guess I'll spend a little more for stick matches and hope my steamy bathroom doesn't render them useless. Dang. I just get everything worked out and stuff changes on me. It's hell getting old!