Ephemera Ads Interest to Local Histories

Arcade Sunshine Matchbook ca. 1921-1938

There are many ways to get some sense of what life was like in Washington’s past. Two obvious ways are in looking at old photographs and reading old newspapers. Additional insight can be gleaned from historic ephemera, such as old matchbooks. I’ve chosen a few here from the Arcade Sunshine Laundry that was located at 713-731 Lamont Street, NW. I’ve previously posted a brief history of this laundry which people can read here>>

What is interesting about ephemera is that it was never intended to be kept or saved, and as such it’s a small miracle whenever you find an item. As an example, the the first matchbook here dates to sometime between 1921 and 1938. While the date is not obvious, it can be loosely figured out by looking at the phone number COL. 8010. In reviewing newspaper ads, this number was associated with the main office at the Lamont Street plant during its first years.

It is also interesting to see the artwork on the matchbook, which depicts moths and an advertisement for cold air garment storage.

The next two matchbooks date to the period between 1939 and 1952, again suggested by the phone number of RAndolph 8000. After 1952, the number listed is RAndolph 6-8000.

Arcade Sunshine Matchbook ca. 1939-1952

Inside of matchbook listing cleaning services

What is noteworthy about the above matchbook and the one that follows is that the inside lists the full range of services offered by the cleaners. Some of my favorites are fur cleaning, fire-proofing, and rug reweaving.

Like the earlier matchbook, moth-proofing is among their many services. Still, focus of this matchbook is very general.

Sunshine Arcade matchbook ca. 1939-1952

The last example (left) focuses entirely on furniture cleaning and storage. What is particularly interesting about this last matchbook is that it advertises a service that just isn’t commonly done these days … professional, off-site furniture cleaning.

A service of particular note — upside down to the left — is that Arcade Sunshine would pick up your furniture while you moved, clean it, and deliver it to your new address. While I’m sure such a service wasn’t inexpensive, I wonder how it compared to paying movers.

As with the other matchbook from this period, this one also has a list of services on the inside. This one lists a full range of fees for cleaning upholstered furniture. To gain a better understanding of the approximate cost in today’s dollars, I used an inflation calculator and chose 1945 as a starting point. Then, choosing the cost of cleaning an upholstered couch, which is listed as $7.50 below, the calculator returns a value of $91.76 in today’s currency. You can do similar calculations by using the U.S. Inflation Calculator located here>>

List of fees for cleaning upholstry, ca. 1939-1952

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Tags: Arcade Sunshine, ephemera, history and culture, Park View

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