History Main / GoingByTheMatchbook

* In a [[WaltDisney José Carioca]] story, all they find is a burnt match the villain had used, but he instructs Nestor to take it to all the bars and try to figure out where it came from and who bought it. This naturally doesn't work at all.

* In the pulp action game ''Adventure!'', each skill description has a small story vignette. The one for the Investigation skill has two people utterly fail to find any clues, and one of them laments that if [[LampshadeHanging this was a detective novel, they would at least have found a matchbox or something]].

* A variation occurs in ''[[TMNT2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' (2003), the turtles follow a matchbox left by a mercenary to the hotel where he and his posse are staying at. Incidentally, since the mercenary can't be shown smoking due to S&P reasons, he is instead given an {{oral fixation}} with the matches themselves.

* ''SeriesJonathanCreek'': In "Daemons' Roost", the matchbook the killer used to light the furnace turns out to be an important clue to the killer's identity (although not the one it first appears to be).

* {{Burke}} intentionally subverts this, by going out of his way to obtain matchbooks from bars he's never visited, and deliberately dropping them.

* ''Series/TheEqualizer''. In "No Conscience", a chronic womanizer gets kidnapped by industrial spies who kept insisting that "she said she gave it to you" and [[MistakenForSpies refuse to believe his claims of innocence]]. Realising he's going to be tortured, TheCasanova quickly "confesses" and promises to get "it" to them [[YouHaveFortyEightHours in 36 hours]] -- he then has to hire the Equalizer to help him sort through the multitude of women he's dated to find the right one. "It" turns out to be a microdot on a matchbook handed to him with a girl's phone number written on the inside; the girl had realised she was being followed and passed the microdot on to him to get rid of it. He passed it to his date-for-the-night, who passed it onto another man in the singles bar, who passed it on to a girl...

* An episode of ''Series/TheEqualizer'' had a handsome chronic womaniser get kidnapped by industrial spies who kept insisting that "she said she gave it to you" and [[MistakenForSpies refuse to believe his claims of innocence]]. Realising he's going to be tortured, TheCasanova quickly "confesses" and promises to get "it" to them in 24 hours -- he then has to hire the Equalizer to help him sort through the multitude of women he's dated to find the right one. "It" turns out to be a microdot on a matchbook handed to him with a girl's phone number written on the inside; the girl had realised she was being followed and passed the microdot on to him to get rid of it.

A staple of mystery or FilmNoir themed shows: a lead on a missing person is provided by a branded matchbook indicating a bar they've visited.

In the old days, back when people [[SmokingIsCool cared more about looking cool than smelling fresh]], [[EverybodySmokes everyone smoked]]; accordingly, every diner, dive, and kindergarten would have a basket of logo-stamped matches by the door that patrons would just instinctively shove into their pocket. This is a reasonable (if cliche) clue for stories set in the 40s (e.g., FilmNoir). A little less realistic nowadays, but still shows up in a noir-style show.

[[DiscreditedTrope When was the last time]] you saw someone lighting a cigarette, cigar, joint, or bong [[TechnologyMarchesOn with a match]], anyway, let alone a handy clue-ready matchbook? A modern writer can still use this trope with a little imagination, though; a branded lighter would be the obvious choice, but pens or business cards could work too.

In fiction, no one ever shares matchbooks with a friend or accquaintance. Once it's in your pocket, it's locked there like a ClingyMacGuffin, a permanent memento of your journey.

* In an issue of the ''ComicBook/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|Mirage}}'' comic book, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Splinter, and April return to the building from which a ridiculously large Foot Soldier had emerged. Upon entering the building, they find a matchbook bearing the name "Acme Traps", which they go to and find... [[spoiler:Donatello tied up and dangling from the ceiling, suspended over a maze.]]

* Hartigan in the ''Film/SinCity'' movie finds Nancy with the help of a book of matches in her apartment. He does, however, [[LampshadeHanging point out]] in the narration that it's his ''only'' lead. The time period in which the story is set [[RetroUniverse isn't entirely clear]]; some characters dress like 90s [[AntiHero antiheroes]], while the cars (equipped with early '90s car-phones) look early-60s at the latest and weapons run the gamut from swords to bleeding-edge sniper rifles. But they had to use the matchbook gag, as the whole premise of the series is "take film noir and turn all the dials {{up to eleven}}".

* Parodied in ''Film/LoadedWeapon1'': "I've never been there!" - "Well, these matches say you're lying." Then the matchbook is opened up, just to reveal the words "You're lying" written there.

* A matchbook is one of the 20 items in ''Film/{{Paycheck}}'', and seems even more of an anachronism in the future. [[spoiler: Justified in that the label on the matchbook is a painted-on disguise for its real information, and also because the hero actually needs to light matches later on.]]

* In ''Literature/CityOfDevils'', Nick's first clue is a matchbook that turns out to be from a [[spoiler: brothel in which the employees are monsters pretending to be humans, and the clients pretend to turn them into monsters. No one has sex there, which the hero thinks is sick.]]

* In a flashback on ''Series/VeronicaMars'', we see that Lily has quite a collection of matchbooks with Hispanic names and phone numbers written on them. Of course, she's never been to the bars or met the guys, she just left them around the house for her mother to find....
* One classic ''Series/MissionImpossible'' episode depended on a bad guy noticing something about a matchbook in order to fall for the team's BatmanGambit

* An episode of ''Series/TheEqualizer'' had a handsome chronic womaniser get kidnapped by industrial spies who kept insisting that "she said she gave it to you" and [[MistakenForSpies refuse to believe his claims of innocence]]. Realising he's going to be tortured, TheCasanova quickly "confesses" and promises to get "it" to them in 24 hours -- he then has to hire the Equalizer to help him sort though the multitude of women he's dated to find the right one. "It" turns out to be a microdot on a matchbook handed to him with a girl's phone number written on the inside; the girl had realised she was being followed and passed the microdot on to him to get rid of it.
* A variation in an episode of ''Series/DueSouth''. The matchbook wasn't important because of where it was from, it was important because the inside of it doubled as a mobster's address book. It ends up getting stolen by his ex-girlfriend (who just thought it was a matchbook) and accidentally ended up in the posession of a Canadian official's daughter, in a distinct aversion of the ClingyMacguffin quality of clue matchbooks in fiction.
* Lampshaded in ''Series/{{Batman}}'' in the episode, "A Death Worse Than Fate," where Zelda the Great, upon releasing Aunt Harriet whom she kidnapped, deliberately planted a matchbook of her accomplice's book store to lure the Dynamic Duo into a DeathTrap.

* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Earl's ex-girlfriend Jessie has become a BountyHunter, and wants to take Joy in (to get back at her for a) knocking out her two front teeth and b) stealing Earl from her.) Earl goes to talk to her, while Joy hides out in his motel room. When he returns, he finds that Jessie has followed him using this method.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' uses a version of this: If player visit his "grave" he can find Dinstictive Cigaret Butt and later in Boulder City he can find Distinctive Lighter. Both are unique items and can be presented as a proof of Bennys attempt to murder you. Played somewhat more realistically, in that the person you have to convince isn't swayed by either piece of evidence alone, you need both to actually get him to believe you enough to let you snoop around Benny's pad.

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', pygmy janitors will sometimes drop match-books, which can be used outside of combat to unlock a bar in the Hidden City (they can also be used in combat to [[AgonyOfTheFeet give the enemy a hot-foot]]).

* Used in a ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' storyline, except that the name of the bar ''wasn't'' on the matchbook, so Batman, having used [[GPSEvidence other evidence]] to narrow it down to the East Wharf, goes from bar to bar in the guise of Matches Malone, buying books of matches until he finds the right one (and explaining he can't use the one in his mouth, because it stays there "for purposes of trademark").

* In ''[[Film/TheThinMan Another Thin Man]]'', a matchbook leads Nick to the "West Indies Club".

* Hartigan in the ''Film/SinCity'' movie finds Nancy with the help of a book of matches in her apartment. He does, however, [[LampshadeHanging point out]] in the narration that it's his ''only'' lead.
** The time period in which ''Sin City'' is set [[RetroUniverse isn't entirely clear]]; some characters dress like 90s [[AntiHero antiheroes]], while the cars (equipped with early '90s car-phones) look early-60s at the latest and weapons run the gamut from swords to bleeding-edge sniper rifles. But they had to use the matchbook gag, as the whole premise of the series is "take film noir and turn all the dials {{up to eleven}}".

* Phoenix in ''PhoenixWrightAceAttorney: Trials and Tribulations'' finds a matchbook for the Tres Bien restaurant, where a murder was committed, in the office of a loan shark. He later uses the matchbook to refute the loan shark's claim that he had never set foot in Tres Bien, and thus could not have been the murderer.

* Parodied in ''Loaded Weapon'': "I've never been there!" - "Well, these matches say you're lying." Then the matchbook is opened up, just to reveal the words "You're lying" written there.

* A matchbook is one of the 20 items in ''{{Paycheck}}'', and seems even more of an anachronism in the future. [[spoiler: Justified in that the label on the matchbook is a painted-on disguise for its real information, and also because the hero actually needs to light matches later on.]]

* A branded napkin is the clue in ''Sinners and Saints'' (2010), for a club that closed down five years before, so the police realise the villains are using the supposedly derelict building.

* [[TheRockfordFiles Jim Rockford]] often finds matchbooks as clues. This is a 1970s show. [[Series/MagnumPI Tom Magnum]] sometimes finds matchbooks, but his adventures take place in the 1980s, when people were starting to smoke less. He's more likely to find business cards.

* In an issue of the ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' comic book, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Splinter, and April return to the building from which a ridiculously large Foot Soldier had emerged. Upon entering the building, they find a matchbook bearing the name "Acme Traps", which they go to and find... [[spoiler:Donatello tied up and dangling from the ceiling, suspended over a maze.]]

* Axel Foley in the first ''Film/BeverlyHillsCop'' movie recovers a matchbook from a failed hitman, and is able to recover the {{Big Bad}}'s fingerprint.

* In ''Film/CastleOfSand'' the only clue found by the body was a matchbook to an establishment called Bar "Ron". This leads to the witness who saw the dead man with another man, and recalls the mysterious mentions of "Kameda"

* In ''Halfway House'', Ellery points out that most matchbooks are far too common for one to be incriminating. Then it turns out that one is, anyway.

* The ''KingOfTheHill'' episode "Revenge of the Lutefisk" when Cotton was wrongfully accused of burning down Arlen's church after the detectives found a matchbook from "a strip club in Houston".

* The mysterious man who gives you the main quest in ''ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' has a matchbook from an inn on his person, but in a subversion, [[spoiler:the inn cannot be reached until the end of the game, and by then the mystery is basically solved and what you do learn still wouldn't be anything of value at any point in the game.]]

* A matchbook from the bar Vodka shows up in ''MaxPayne2'', though it isn't so much a clue as a EurekaMoment trigger.

* This is used a number of times to find new locations during several cases in ''LANoire''. Inverted when the crime scene is a nightclub and irrelevant matchbooks are scattered throughout the location.
* VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas uses a version of this: If player visit his "grave" he can find Dinstictive Cigaret Butt and later in Boulder City he can find Distinctive Lighter. Both are unique items and can be presented as a proof of Bennys attempt to murder you. Played somewhat more realistically, in that the person you have to convince isn't swayed by either piece of evidence alone, you need both to actually get him to believe you enough to let you snoop around Benny's pad.
* In ''DiscworldNoir'', a major clue early on is a matchbook from the Octarine Parrot.

* Hartigan in the ''{{Sin City}}'' movie finds Nancy with the help of a book of matches in her apartment. He does, however, [[LampshadeHanging point out]] in the narration that it's his ''only'' lead.

* A minor plot point in ''[[Film/BackToTheFuture Back To The Future Part II]]'': Marty steals a matchbook from Biff's crapsack 1985 "pleasure paradise". Once things return to normal, the matchbook changes the name of Biff's business from "pleasure paradise" to "auto detailing", [[ChekhovsGun which Biff asked Marty's opinion on earlier in the movie]].

* In ''Film/MenInBlack 3'', K notices Roman the Fabulist carried a matchbook from Cosmic Bowling Lanes. Since Roman didn't smoke, K deduces this to be meant as a clue. Oh, and if you wonder about the use of the classic form of this trope in a movie this new, it should be noted that it all started with a [[TimeTravel time jump]] to TheSixties.