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Matchbook Collecting Information






Have you ever thought about matchbook collecting (matchcovers & matchboxes)? You may be a phillumenist!

Phillumeny is a term attached to those who collect matchcovers and related itmes.

Most people have a drawer or cupboard full of old matchbooks. Perhaps, you found some in your box of ephemera collectibles. Or, maybe, you found some matchbook covers in a scrapbooking album. Why not start a collection?

old matches war bonds

Matchcovers and matchboxes come in all kinds of categories; mainly advertising: Banks, Local Advertising, Restaurants, Hotels, Casino's, Weddings, etc.

They also vary somewhat in size, paper color and graphics, striker width, and other miscellaneous markings (inside cover).

We once came across a couple of hundred of matchbook covers! Needless to say, there was quite a variety...including many interesting covers!

Wow! We now understand why the phillumenists love their hobby so much!

And so, it occurred to us...why not invite you to show us your most interesting matchbook cover? Sounds like fun to us! Follow the simple instructions below to get started!

What Is Your Most Unusual Matchbook?

Show us your most unusual matchbook cover! How did you acquire it? (Please, keep it clean, folks!)

Share you "special find" with the rest of us! (We love this kind of stuff!)

Oh, and if you have any tips and/or advice on matchbook collecting or matchbook displays...we'd love to hear about that too! We may just add it to our page on matchbook collecting to help others.

Go Ahead! Give Your Story a Title! (it looks better!)

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What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Most Unusual Matchbook Covers! New York City sightseeing deal.  starstarstarstarstar
I have 2 matchbook covers, one from Hotel President and one from Hotel Plymouth, both in mid-town Manhattan that offer:6 day tours that include--5 breakfasts,...

Need More Information?

Okay, we are only scratching the strike pad here, so to speak! There are a lot of people out there that collect matchcovers!

In fact, there is an entire society that does so: The Rathkamp Matchcover Society!

This group has been collecting matchcovers for 70 years! They love doing it and are very knowledgeable. If you are truly interested in this hobby, it is worth checking out this site!

In addition to that, The Vault, is another interesting site related to matchcover collecting.

There, you can find extensive history, great buying and selling tips, tools of the trade, and a whole lot more information related to matchcover collecting.

One of our goals, on this site, is to help you find what you need for your collection. We have another page on Matchbooks, as well. Check it out! Hope that helps!


Random Notes...


old matches war bonds

Matchbook collecting can be quite interesting! In some ways, matchbooks can be quite revealing too! Did you acquire a bunch of matchbooks from a friend, or perhaps at an auction? Or perhaps, that whole box is all yours?

Try this! Lay them out on a table! Put them in order, based on geographic location of an imaginary map. Notice any patterns?

Perhaps, you noticed cities where you used to live or work. Or maybe, you have an outline of all of your past vacation stops. Maybe...maybe not! But it's fun to try!

oversized matchbook



Our Advice?

Perhaps you are making matchbook collecting into a serious hobby, and would like to make some money on the side. Okay? Buy duplicates! Keep one! Sell or trade the other!


(Note: We used the terms matchbook and matchcover interchangeably throughout this page. We realize that this probably drives the true Phillumenist crazy! Sorry about that! But we are just normal people and grew up using the term matchbook, so that's what we did!)

Thank You Matchbook

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