"I'm sittin' here wonderin', matchbox holdin' my clothes,  I'm sittin' here wonderin', a matchbox holdin' my clothes,  I ain't got no matches, but I got a long way to go." Matchbox, Carl  Perkins, Sun Records, 1955

Here are some nice collectibles from "Covert" Carl, who was somehow able to keep these intact for nearly 40 years.  Almost every bar or club we frequented gave away matchboxes (usually with hard covers and wooden matches) with their name and a map on it, so you could just show it to the taxi driver.  The interesting part was trying to collect these while hiding them from your parents.  A jar full of these would leave no doubt where you spent your weekends.
 

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Nicola's Pizza.  Owned by Nick Zapetti, "The Mafia Boss of Tokyo."   This was the first true American pizza place in Tokyo and our favorite hangout in Roppongi, not only for the pizza, but also for the booze we could order at age 16 and for all the amazing characters who frequented the joint - yakuza, Soviet spies, politicians, baseball players, visiting American movie stars .. us ..

Hamburger Inn. In the same area as Nicola's and another favorite haunt.   Notice the "Open 24 Hours," which made it the after-hours, try-to-get-sober joint.

The "Bo"   The notorious Bohemian Club, near Shibuya Station, and a wild, wild joint!

 

Bar Don.  Another Shibuya tiny hole-in-the-wall,   but no map. Find it if you can remember.	Bar Eleve was true to its French   name - a hangout for students.  (actually = élève, to be exact)

 

The photo studio that "Covert" Carl and I discovered in Shibuya, all in furtherance of our photography hobby, of course.	Papagayo was another crazy joint that could care less that we were punk 16 year old kids, and served us whatever we could afford.

A bar with no chairs.	Fred Flintstone drank here.	Did Walt Disney know about this?

 

Bars took names that were Americanized .. there was no Frank ..	.. or with French words, to imbue some supposed class ..	.. or as a preview of coming attractions .. four locations for "sweets" and other munchies.

 

I think this was not a bar, but I   have no idea what it was.	A tourist hotel in Hakone.

 

The Officers' Club at Fuchu	The Fuchu NCO Club, with numbers at all the   other clubs, so wives could page their drunk husbands   when they didn't show up for dinner after work.

 

The Far East Exchange - the BX!!!	"Friendly. Efficient. Economical. Service."  In any particular order??

 

Does this mean:   "Don't sell cigarettes to the Japanese??"  Ooops!	U.S. Army Map Service Far East Officers' Open Mess, Camp Oji

 

This last one is precious .. there may only be a dozen in the entire world, if that.  It was almost a throw-away at the time .. an advertising specialty item .. whereas, most bars and clubs in Tokyo had ornate boxes of matches for their customers (Manos' everyday matches, right), one place had special lighters created for their regular customers .. and we were certainly regulars .. this was the lighter given to us on New Year's Eve, 1959 .. and mine is long gone .. at Manos Russian Kitchen:

The regular Mano's matchbox.

 

Did you notice the small screw, bottom left? That's where you put in the replacement flint, and another screw on the right where you filled it with lighter fluid.  There were these clickable kind and the Zippos .. that's it.  No Bics, no throw away lighters.  These were meant to last.  This lighter still works four decades later.	An ad from that same establishment.  Click on it to see the larger version.  I can almost taste them now .. Asahi brewskis and piroskis .. how come they never made it big in the States?? Piroskis - look like a baked potato and packed with shredded beef (?) and spicy veggies -  a major taste treat!  Right outside the Washington Heights gate.  What a great place Manos was!

 

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