- As with probably all collectibles,
'old' is good! The same is true with mathcovers, although, as
we'll see, the vast majority of 'old' covers aren't necessarily
treasures.
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- First, what exactly is 'old'
when it comes to matchcovers? Matchcovers go back to the mid
1890's and, of course, have been produced ever since. That's
almost 120 years...longer than a person's lifetime. And that's
where where the first problem arises. The non-collector measures
times in relation to his own life. "I was a kid back in
the '70's...so a cover from the '70's must necessarily be old.
It's 40 years old, after all." Not true from a collector's
standpoint.
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- The hobby defines 'old' as anything
Pre-War (before December 7th, 1941), so right away that pushes
'old' back to at least 70 years. So now we're looking at the
period from say 1894-1941. And, since older is better, I'd break
the covers from that period into the following sub-categories:
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- 1894-1919
- really old
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- 1920-1930
- very old
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- 1931-1941
- old
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- 1894-1919:
Practically speaking, matchcovers from this period are so rare
that it's hardly worth discussing. There are a some, but many
collectors go through their entire collecting careers without
owning a one.As far as I know, all the covers within this time
frame are from the Diamond Match Co. Diamond purchased the rights
to Joshua Pusey's first matchbook in 1892, and I'm guessing that
their patent rights extended through this period. Hence, only
Diamond produced any covers here. Famous examples include the
Piso
cover (c. 1895), the Mendelson
Opera cover (1896), and the WW I Knights of Columbus/Red Cross
covers (1917-1918).
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- 1920-1930:
Even though there are more covers known from this period, they're
still relatively rare and just about as difficult to locate and
obtain. The most famous cover from this period, and the most
famous cover in the hobby, is the Lindbergh cover (1927)
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- 1931-1941:
Now, we're talking! Here's where the great bulk of the Oldies
covers come from. They're not the oldest; they're not necessarily
the rarest; but these, for the most part, are what collectors
refer to when talking about 'oldies'.
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- And here comes the second problem
for non-collectors - Even if what you're looking at is a certified
oldie, it's probably a run-of-the-mill cover. "What?! But
it's an oldie!" I know; I know...but the truth of the matter
is...most oldies are run-of-the-mill, nothing special
covers. They're 70+ years old, and if you just want to collect
'old' covers, fine, but other than that they're not particularly
rare; and they're not particularly sought after; other than age,
they're not unique.
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- That's not to say they're not wanted.
If a Coca-Cola collector, or a Tobacco collector, for example,
happened to find a 70 year-old cover in his or her speacialty,
it would be a very nice find, indeed. And, there are certainly
collectors who simply collect old covers. But for the most part,
such a cover from a shoe store, or restaurant, or whatever, has
nothing going for it other than age. The older covers that are
coveted (those that might be called 'golden oldies') are those
that have age plus something else...usually added rarity stemming
from a rarer manumark or footer...or size. The advent of vending
machines in the 1930's necessitated that matchbook covers be
somewhat shorter. Ergo, those older covers (referred to as 'Talls' or 'XL's')
that are noticeably longer than later issues have an extra appeal
to collectors. By the same token, the size of the striker has
a similar allure. About the same time that the length of the
cover changed, so did the size of the striker. Referred to as
'wide-strikers',
these earlier issues featured noticeably larger strikers. Also,
the striker on earlier issues may be askew due to hand application. While not directly
making the cover any more desirable, such a striker does
indicate greater age.
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- Here are some of the golden oldies
manumarks:
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- Here are some of the golden oldie
footers:
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- Older covers sometimes need special
care and handling. In some cases, the striker may have become
either soft or brittle. One can normally spot this problem because
the striker area on the inside of the cover is discolored.
In such a case, a strip of clear tape over the inside area will
help give support. On the earlier covers, early Diamond covers
especially, the striker material was brushed on on top
of the staple. Thus, if the striker has become at all brittle,
there's a very good chance that the cover will be ruined if one
tries to remove the staple. In such cases, I recommend simply
leaving it as a full-book. Finally, older covers were made of
thicker stock, as and a result will take longer to press flat.
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