When they need explaining like this, they're done

Lights out on Nittosha matchbooks prompts nostalgia in Japan

Matchbooks — the kind Nittosha is discontinuing — have matches with stems made of hard-to-burn paper, stuck together comb-like at the bottom. They’re encased in a paper cover, much like a book, with a strip for striking.

Meanwhile, matchbooks are just one more thing — like stamps, coins, beer cans, and baseball cards — I never started a collection of.