MATCHBOOK EXHIBIT SETS FIRE TO TOBACCO INDUSTRY

MATCHBOOK EXHIBIT SETS FIRE TO TOBACCO INDUSTRY

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (Wireless Flash) -- Would looking at a collection of matches make you less likely to smoke? A museum in Florida hopes so. Elementary school students in Miami Beach are examining a collection of more than 8,000 vintage matchbooks as part of an educational project funded by the state's tobacco company lawsuit settlement. Some of the more unusual matchbooks in the exhibit include a World War II-era Hitler matchbook which features matches as "Der Fuhrer's" hair and a Mussolini matchbook in which the matches are his fingers. Museum spokesperson Frank Luca says the point of showing kids the matchbooks is to make them aware of the hidden pro- tobacco messages in cigarette-related paraphernalia.

CONTACT: Frank Luca, ***; Miami Beach, FL; (305) 535-2641