9/11/2026/FRIDAY/5:50AM
Edited by Lucas Hilderbrand. Text by Peter Berlin, AA Bronson, Michael Bullock, Michael Andor Brodeur, Marke Bieschke, Rick Castro, Lucas Hilderbrand, Owen Keehnen, David Kennerley, Juanita MORE!, J. Todd Ormsbee, Erik Piepenburg. Photographs by Linda Simpson
An homage to the legacy of matchbooks —a staple giveaway at gay bars and nightclubs—and a celebration of queer pleasure
Before the days of cell phones nearly every gay bar offered matchbooks to their patrons. The matchbooks served not only as a means for lighting a cigarette, but also to collect names and phone numbers on their interior cover while cruising. A love letter to a lost art, Cruising: Gay Matchbooks is an archive of 200 matchbooks from gay bars and bathhouses. The publication includes matchbooks from iconic institutions like The Saint, Florent, The Stud, St. Marks Baths and The Eagle.
The archive is brought to life with 12 essays from leading gay voices including Peter Berlin, Rick Castro, AA Bronson and Michael Bullock who share their stories of love, loss, lust and possibility. Cruising is both a design book and a time capsule. The matchbooks reflect a time when queer spaces had their own distinct visual identities—designed by and for the people who gathered there. Each unique matchbook delights and surprises with bespoke typography and imagery tailor made for the bars and baths. Design for marginalized communities is so often focused on protest, but the matchbooks exude pleasure. The pleasure of being out and going out, the pleasure of lighting a cigarette, the pleasure of getting a stranger’s number with the promise of fun. Cruising is an homage to the legacy of gay matchbooks and a celebration of pleasure. Publisher @darkentriesrecords , distributed by DAP @artbook
Cruising: Gay Matchbooks by Darian Newman
Edited by Lucas Hilderbrand. Text by Peter Berlin, AA Bronson, Michael Bullock, Michael Andor Brodeur, Marke Bieschke, Rick Castro, Lucas Hilderbrand, Owen Keehnen, David Kennerley, Juanita MORE!, J. Todd Ormsbee, Erik Piepenburg. Photographs by Linda Simpson
An homage to the legacy of matchbooks —a staple giveaway at gay bars and nightclubs—and a celebration of queer pleasure
Before the days of cell phones nearly every gay bar offered matchbooks to their patrons. The matchbooks served not only as a means for lighting a cigarette, but also to collect names and phone numbers on their interior cover while cruising. A love letter to a lost art, Cruising: Gay Matchbooks is an archive of 200 matchbooks from gay bars and bathhouses. The publication includes matchbooks from iconic institutions like The Saint, Florent, The Stud, St. Marks Baths and The Eagle.
The archive is brought to life with 12 essays from leading gay voices including Peter Berlin, Rick Castro, AA Bronson and Michael Bullock who share their stories of love, loss, lust and possibility. Cruising is both a design book and a time capsule. The matchbooks reflect a time when queer spaces had their own distinct visual identities—designed by and for the people who gathered there. Each unique matchbook delights and surprises with bespoke typography and imagery tailor made for the bars and baths. Design for marginalized communities is so often focused on protest, but the matchbooks exude pleasure. The pleasure of being out and going out, the pleasure of lighting a cigarette, the pleasure of getting a stranger’s number with the promise of fun. Cruising is an homage to the legacy of gay matchbooks and a celebration of pleasure. Publisher @darkentriesrecords , distributed by DAP @artbook
