Are you talking to me?

I've been contemplating the idea of 'conversation starters' for our tables. I want something that isn't going to take up a lot of room on the table as we're limited to space there, but something more than the generic trivia boxes I've seen on Ebay (pictured below):


This sort of thing looks great but isn't very practical:
Social Sticks (£7 for 80 @ OhSoCherished) would fit the space contraints but they don't look very vintage:


It would, of course, be entirely plausible for me to craft something for this purpose but it's just deciding the style that I want and I don't think anything I could make would look as neat. Have you ever seen those wooden coffee stirers in Costa? I suppose questions could be written on those?!