September 5, 2023
Collectors light up over vintage matchbooks
Antique Week (Antiqueweek.com) featured an article,
Collectors light up over vintage matchbooks, by William
Flood. I wasnt able to reproduce it for the Bulletin,
but it covered quite a bit of territory and included some colorful
photos of various types of covers, including a Feature and Diamonds
Golf-Tee matches. Unfortunately, the article did not include
a reference to RMS. |
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- Wisconsin, August 2022
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- Calling All Collectors
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- Mark Quilling, WI: Upon my retirement and relocation back
to Wisconsin, I contacted our local heritage museum to see if
they would be interested in hosting [a Collectors Day].
The heritage museum jumped at the chance, and immediately put
it on their schedule for September 24th of this year. It
a chance for collectors to show off their collections, and for
the public to come and ask questions. No selling or trading allowedonly
questions and answers. Im helping organize the event, and
will assist in reviewing the applications to help select which
collections will be permitted to participate. Im enclosing
one of the posters we have been distributing
.and will also
have RMS applications and info available. Perhaps this will spur
other match collectors to contact their own museums.
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- Port Clinton News Herald, February 26, 2022
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- Local artists tackle tiny paintings on
matchbook covers
- When a Port Clinton News Herald story about Genoa artist
Rebecca Booth popped up on Mark Quillings newsfeed, he
became captivated by her work.
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- Quilling, a matchbook collector from St. Paul, MN, contacted
Booth to ask if she would paint a matchbook cover for him. His
email spurred an idea in Booth, who enlisted other local artists
to paint matchbooks, too. I had no clue what I was getting
when I got Rebecca. I hit the jackpot with her, Quilling
said. Within a day, the wheels were turning, and she started
listing off artists she thought would paint matchbooks, too.
I made a simple request, and it turned into this big event.
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- On Jan. 31, members of the Plein Air group that meets
at The Arts Garage (TAG) every Monday morning gathered to paint
matchbooks for Quilling. They painted whatever came to mind
flowers and clocks and wine bottles. For many, this was their
first attempt at painting on such a small surface. This
is really different and will stretch us to come up with something
that will fit in that little, teeny space. Its so small,
said Barbara Radebaugh.
- Hope Burger said painting on such a limited backdrop was
new to her, but she was tackling it the way she always does,
by letting her paintbrush guide her work. Its fun
to work this small, but its different from what Ive
been doing, Burger said. Im an intuitive abstract
artist. I dont plan when I start to paint. I make markings
and step back and see what I find in the project, usually a face
or animal. Its like my subconscious coming through my painting.
Shelby Bork, who rents space at TAG for her block printing art
projects, said she was glad to be a part of such a unique group
project.
- Quilling said he doesnt normally collect hand-painted
matchbooks but enjoys having them when he finds an exceptional
artist like Booth willing to paint one. He owns only five handcrafted
matchbooks but thousands of machine printed matchbooks advertising
everything from automobiles to zoos, he said. Each,
he said, is a work of art with a message.
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- Thats what attracted me to them. We (collectors)
think of them as pieces of art, he said. [https://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/story/news/2022/02/26/tag-artists-downsize-their-work-fit-matchbook-covers/6878220001/]
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Owen Sound & District Chamber of Commerce publication
Outlook. Fall 2020 edition
IM JUST SAYING Businesses - by the very nature
of what they do, they sell themselves; they ultimately sell a
product, a service, an idea, but in the end, something is generally
sold. With apologies to print and electronic media, and all the
marvellous forays into social media, when Owen Sound became a
city 100 years ago, and for sixty years thereafter, the very
best tool was a slim, printed strip of cardboard, a matchbook.
The matchbook, before the bans on smoking, was ubiquitous. No
matter what your business in Owen Sound, your matchbook could
most likely be found in the pockets of folks right across the
city and beyond. The marketers convincing firms to buy Eddy Matches,
or Diamond, Lion, Universal or any of the competing makers all
told you the same thing -- people leaving your establishment
with your matchbook would be leaving with 20 little salesmen,
the number of matches stapled into that slim, folded strip of
cardboard, the one with your name on it, the one used repeatedly
and passed around. There was hardly a business in Owen Sound
that did not offer matches at the front door -- from William
Taylor Bottlers, to Grahams Dairy, to Dominion Motors to
Andy Gambles Dry Cleaners, to the Olympia, Trio, Scopis
and Alps Restaurants. Take just one street address, 994 2nd Avenue
East; the matchbooks still exist for at least a half-dozen businesses
there down the years
Manjuris Smoke Shop, Dutch Colony Convenience
Store, Henrys Restaurants, Louis Restaurant, Pizzaville
.but
why? Why are they still around?
Its pretty simple - someone didnt throw them out.
Someone saved them. Someone collected them. And it happened to
the various matchbooks of Art Mills Barber Shop and Mel Maidments
Service Station, The Erie Belle -- and the list goes on. As Owen
Sound celebrates its 100th birthday, we know that our moms and
dads are getting older -- and were getting older. One of
the many words associated with all that is Matchbooks Reflect
History downsizing a word I find a bit ugly in this
context. But it means that in the attic, in the basement, out
in the shed or garage, is an old Summerfolk poster, some old
Greys and Mercurys and Downtowners programmes, that
old Homecoming button, the OSCVI yearbook, photos, pins, stickers
and yes, a bag or jar of old matchbooks
..the detritus of
lives happily lived in The Scenic City. Individually, they may
seem insignificant, tired, and of no further value. But take
those thin little strips of cardboard. Collectively, they tell
a history of the city, a business history, a community history.
They do so because someone in Owen Sounds first hundred
years as a city just didnt throw something out. The folks
planning # 200 in 2120 are going to want to know who you were
and what you did, trust me on that. Please, make it easy for
them. From James Joyce: I am tomorrow, or some future day,
what I establish today. Happy birthday, City of Owen Sound! |
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A hot collection: Matchbook
enthusiasts gather in Springfield for convention
August 17, 2017: The
State Journal-Register (IL) had a
nice article on the RMS Convention in Springfield. Joe DeGennaro
and Charlie Specht were interviewed, giving some hobby history,
demographics and the present circumstances in the hobby. |
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The News-Gazette, IL, July 16, 2016: The RMS
Convention coming up in August, received some nice pre-convention
publicity. Author Bob Swisher covered the basics of the convention,
but the article neglected to give readers the hotel name and
location in Springfield. |
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Back to RMS Home Page
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