Big to do a few weeks ago about the whole moon landing hitting the big 4-0. Perhaps it was because I don’t have cable anymore and thus missed out on what I’m sure was some exciting programming from the Discovery Channel, but I was pretty meh about the whole anniversary. I think space in general is getting a little passe for us post-cold war kids. Maybe it has something to do with the moon being old news, mars being so far away, and the Internet being so much more tangible and exciting. There’s also the chance that the very idea that defunct boy band member Lance Bass might engage in space travel made the whole thing seem a lot less cool. Although, to be fair, I’m sure a lot of people were very excited about the prospect of Lance Bass leaving the Earth’s atmosphere.
What has not fallen out of favor after all this time, is awesome space art. I’m not talking about your tacky sci-fi book cover illustrations, I’m talking about matchbook artwork. Yes! Somehow that too has declined in popularity amongst my generation. Go figure.
I randomly came across these amazing Russian (or was it the USSR back then, I have no idea) matchbooks celebrating space. I like to imagine that if the WPA had changed their minds about the whole let’s focus on rebuilding America thing and focused on jetpacks and satellites this is what it would have looked like. On second thought, maybe that’s exactly what the space program needs. Beautifully designed propaganda posters advertising the tomorrowland of the final frontier. See the Milky Way! Loose lips sink space ships! We can do it…in space!
