[Technically, the hobby really started
in Japan, in 1905, when the first label clubs appeared (and labels
were all there was at that point). However, I'm going to focus
on the domestic story here.]
There really was a hobby before RMS’s
1941 inception. Its history is murky, but it’s there. It
has its roots in matchbox label collecting in the 1800s. At that
point, that’s all phillumenists had available to collect.
That was going to change, though, with Joshua Pusey's invention
of the matchbook in the early 1890s [although it should be noted that there is some controversy
over whether or not it was actually Pusey's invention].
In 1896, we have the famous handwritten
Mendelson Opera Company matchbooks...but matchbooks still weren’t
collectible because they were all blanks (unless someone wrote
on them). Diamond purchased the rights to Pusey's matchbook in
1894, but the Binghamton Match Company of New York had already
taken Pusey's matchbook and produced the Piso matchbook by then
[pictured on the opening page], and this one had commercially
printed advertising on it. Now, the ball was rolling! Still,
matchbooks weren’t common, weren’t varied, and weren’t
widely available; ergo, collectors’ interest still hadn’t
been aroused yet. The real turning point had to be 1902...that’s
when the first huge order came in for matchbooks with printed
advertisements on them—Pabst Beer ordered 10 million!
Now we have just about all the ingredients needed for the hobby....just
add a few years for the idea to take hold and voila!...We have
matchcover collectors in evidence by at least 1918. (The late
Evelyn Hovious is an example. She started collecting while serving
soldiers at a local Red Cross during W W I). Add in another decade
or so for collectors to realize that they were not individual
oddities and that there were others with the same interests,
and you have early clubs appearing in the 1930s. Also, faked
labels had become such a problem in the 1930s that many American
label collectors simply gave up on their label collections and
turned to cover collecting exclusively.
Here in the United States, M. A. Richardson organized the earliest
club that I know of, the Blue Moon Match Label Club, in 1934.
By the mid-1930s, things were well under way. Ernest Damron started
the United Match Label Collectors Club in 1936 and changed the
name to United Matchonians in 1938. Also in 1936, The Match Folder
Collectors' Alliance put out the Match Folder News. There were
even clubs outside the U.S. For example, the Guiana Hobby Club
was situated in British Guiana, and South Africa had the African
Collector’s Exchange. Of course, this shouldn’t be
surprising since label collecting was already much more established
overseas.
And, just as our bulletins tie the hobby together today, there
were a variety of earlier matchcover publications circulating
in the 1930s. Ray Yeinst, Harrisburg, PA, issued Matchlabels.
The Mariners Match Label Club published the Anchor Match Label
Log. Joan Carter, Rochester, NY, published the National
Hobby Bulletin. Clarke Cameron put out the American Matchcover
Collector. Match Lights (1936-1941) was put out by
Jess Heuzell from Kansas City; Match Pack Notes (1936-1940)
was available out of San Francisco; The United (1936-1951)
was the United Matchonian newsletter; Match Folder News/The
Voice of the Collector (1936-1938) was around briefly; and
the Matchonia & Hobby Advertiser (1938-1939) was produced
until it turned into the Collector’s Forum.
All of this was the ‘breeding ground,’ so to speak,
for the nexus of collectors who would eventually form the Rathkamp
Matchcover Society, the first club in the world to really specialize
in matchcovers. Those early pioneers, such as Henry Rathkamp,
Tom Torrent, Bob Oliver, Ken Rigg, and the unsung collectors
who came before them, laid the foundation for the RMS we have
today—the largest matchcover-collecting organization in
the world. For a “modern” collector, such as myself,
one can’t help but sigh sometimes when thinking of what
a great collecting era those early collectors lived in—to
be surrounded by Safety Firsts and Diamond Qualities, to anxiously
await the latest release of Colgate covers, to scour the town
for new Midgets....Ah, those were the days!
- Over the decades, the hobby has
developed a number of rather unique traditions that now characterize
who and what we are.
- Room Hopping!
What a great activity! At conventions, collectors visit other
collectors' rooms. Each room has free covers set out for the
taking. Visitors are welcome to come in, browse, socialize, and
help themselves to whichever covers they need.
Trading by mail!
One of the neat things about matchcovers is that they have always
been small enough and plentiful enough so that there has been
a constant trading back and forth by mail between collectors.
Every day, there are matchcovers criss-crossing the country,
on their way to new homes!
- Shucking contests! At conventions and swapfests, collectors often
get together for a one-of-a-kind contest--shucking! A handful
of collectors will be seated at a table or tables, each with
a caddy of matchbooks (that's usually 50 matchbooks). At a given
signal, all will start stripping the matches out of the matchbooks
("shucking"); at the end, the person who has successfully
shucked the most matchbooks wins...but all contestants walk away
with the entire caddy they were working on!
Display contests! We
LOVE to see great covers! Individuals, clubs, and sponsoring
companies present plaques and trophies to collectors whose presentations
of great covers, boxes, and/or labels in "displays"
have been judged to be the best in their respective categories.
Some win due to rarity, others for their subject matter, and
still others for their attractiveness. You'll always hear lots
of "oh's" and "ah's" in any display room!
- Freebie tables!
A staple of conventions, swapfests, and club meetings! Tables
that are mounded over with covers...free for the taking.
Ah, I've found many a great cover on various Freebie tables around
the country! It's always great fun to "sit and sift!"
One never knows what may be discovered.
Convention bags!
Any time you register at a convention, you receive a convention
bag. What's inside? Hundreds of great covers, lots of little
knick-knacks (many of which are collectible), and a surprise
or two!
- Collector generosity! More than anything else,
what makes up all of the other facets
of the hobby is the collectors themselves. What a great bunch
of people! You'll have to search far and wide before finding
a more helpful and generous group than matchcover collectors.
They share their experience and knowledge...they share their
covers...they share the fun! They donate to all the hobby's activities
and events...they take new collectors under their wings...they
become lifelong friends. The hobby deals in matchcovers, but
the hobby is the collector.
Swapfests! Although
there are two conventions annually (RMS and AMCAL), there are
several swapfest each year, such as UES (held in Maryland) and
the Sierra Spring Swapfest (held in N. California). The swapfests,
as the term implies, are characterized by a more concentrated
focus on obtaining covers. There's a lot of trading between collectors,
big auctions, selling, and the always popular freebie tables.
Today there are far more clubs in
the US than in any other country! Rathkamp
Matchcover Society is the national
organization and is the biggest, and the oldest, matchcover collecting
organization in the world. Then there are regional clubs, such
as Northern California's Sierra-Diablo
Matchcover Club, blanketing the US
and eastern Canada, and finally there are the specialty clubs
that focus on one type of cover/box (Girlies, Mermaids, etc.).
....Join us, won't you, in
a truly wonderful hobby! |
