Photo Provided Old matchbooks highlight eras in Wheeling's history via vintage artwork advertising businesses and factories from the area's past.

WHEELING – The Ohio County Public Library’s next Lunch With Books program will feature author Tony Paree and his enlightening look at local history as told through vintage matchbooks.

The program will take place at noon on Tuesday, June 23, at the library in downtown Wheeling.

Paree’s fascinating journey began with a rediscovery of a basement bowl teeming with eye-catching matchbooks and their covers from places visited as a customer and tourist or procured as a collector. These tiny works of art promoting long-forgotten Wheeling restaurants, bars, banks, factories and other local businesses remind us of a once bustling Upper Ohio Valley.

The collection is highlighted in his book “Wheeling, West Virginia and Matchbooks: A Perfect Match.”

Paree is a native of Wheeling who spent 45 years working at Crone’s Clothiers and became collector of local memorabilia with a commitment to saving the history that is found all around us. His other books include “Victorian Trade Cards of Wheeling” ( 2014) and “Real Photo Postcards of Wheeling” (2019).