CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 11/12/2026

Gay matchbooks from the golden age of cruising

“‘Got a light?’ was a classic pick-up line in the golden age of smoking, which was coincidentally also the golden age of cruising. Offering a lit match to an expectant smoker—cigarette already in mouth—was an act of chivalry. In the dark back rooms of bars and sex clubs, a lit match or the cherry ember of a cigarette might be the only light as men navigated by touch.” So begins Lucas Hilderbrand’s essay in staff favorite new release Cruising: Gay Matchbooks, published by Dark Entries Editions. An archive of 200 matchbooks from historic and oftentimes forgotten gay bars and bathhouses, drawn from the collection of Darian Newman, this clothbound, 256-page hardcover hints at all sorts of tactile, in-person and transgressive pleasures, while also functioning as a gorgeous and celebratory design time-capsule. Featured matchbooks photographed by Linda Simpson.