Collecting matchbook covers professional#

If a curious person were to attempt to strike a match, I would say there are perhaps other security and access issues to be considered. In fact, the safety match (including the separation of the flammable chemicals and by design moving the striker plate to the outside of containers) was designed in the mid-19th century specifically to prevent this sort of accident. Where loose early matches of the pre-safety match era may rattle around and cause friction enough to ignite the flammable head, it is unlikely that a set of twentieth century wooden or paperboard strip matches would move enough to spark an ignition. The chemicals in the flammable tip may suffer natural degradation through natural aging, but it is probably unlikely that a match of this mid-twentieth century vintage may spontaneously combust. The archivists’ and librarians’ concerns are certainly valid.

Collecting matchbook covers professional#

There are various references available on professional list-serves about this particular topic, with intervention suggestions ranging from the more mild 'put them in a steel box,' to the A-for-effort but less scientifically solid 'dip the heads in wax to make them inert/discourage striking' (wax is flammable, and probably already a component of some matches) to the commandingly drastic and familiar to fans of Lewis Carroll's Queen of Hearts: 'Off with their heads!' (i.e. Also, I get to learn new words, such as phillumeny (the hobby of collecting matchbox labels, printed matchbox outers, matchboxes, matchbook covers, matchbooks, and other forms of match packaging).

When a colleague approaches me with a question such as: 'Nora, we have artists' matchbooks! Should we remove them? Will they spontaneously ignite? Will someone try to light them and set fire to the archives accidentally, or worse, on purpose?!,' I delight in putting my creative problem-solving mind to work. Every matchbook tells its own story and I hope this collection will spark a memory.I have a special spot in my heart for oddball items in the archives. I wanted to share these tiny American time capsules with everyone, in hopes that someone out there can identify and connect with a favorite memory, a dinner they long to enjoy again, or a family vacation they remember fondly. I continue to add matchbook art to the collection. Matchbook American is a collection of framed vintage matchbook art, showcasing the tiny billboards and the art which they embody. The question was, “What to do with an enormous box of highly flammable sentimentals?” Matchbook American has provided a way to share this collection with the rest of the world. I have had the great joy of becoming friendly with over 2,000 vintage matchbooks, sifting through these musty curios, and placing my Father and Grandfather in restaurants, hotels, and clubs all across America. It became so popular that the term “phillumenism” was coined, which is the collecting of matchbook covers and matchbox labels. With matchbook art surging in the 50s, matchbook collecting soon followed. It was time to unveil what I had wondered about for many years. Over the past 30 years I was aware of a matchbook collection that my Father had which I finally found at my Mother’s home in a banana box labelled “Matchbook Collection”.