
Bruno's Pen And Pencil Restaurant Steak Row NYC Matchbook Cover 1950's
Vintage 30-strike matchbook cover (no matches) from the 1950's advertising the now closed Bruno's Pen and Pencil Restaurant which was located at 205 East 45th St in midtown Manhattan, New York City. Pen and Pencil opened in the 1930's and was run by John Bruno from 1937 until his death in 1965. His son took over the restaurant and ran it until its closing in 1998. The section of E 45th St between Lexington and 1st Avenue was known as "Steak Row" at the time due to the large number of steakhouses on the street, many of which got their start serving workers at local newspapers. The front cover of the matchbook has the the restaurant logo and name. The strike side of the cover has the restaurant name, address, and old style phone number. The inside has a pair of short review excerpts of the restaurant from writers at the NY Journal American and NY Daily News. The matchbook is an "The Ambassador" matchbook made by the Diamond Match Division of Diamond Nat'l of Springfield, Mass. The matchbook cover is in very good condition with very light wear on the edges near the folds. It is empty and there are no matches, and the strike pad appears to be lightly used. (see photos).