Believe it or not, smoking was banned on domestic flights only 25 years ago!
"It’s probably difficult for anyone who isn’t middle-aged or older to comprehend, but people could smoke cigarettes on airplanes until Feb. 25, 1990. That’s when the federal government, after years of pressure from a union, the Association of Flight Attendants, finally banned smoking on all but a handful of domestic flights over six hours in duration. Ten years later, smoking was prohibited on flights between the United States and foreign destinations. Today, virtually every commercial flight in the world is smoke-free."
Prior to that period from the beginning of air travel smoking was permitted on ALL FfLights -Domestic and International.
Here is a collection of airline advertising match books that were distributed in the airport terminals and on board the aircraft.
"The flight attendants union began fighting for a smoking ban in the late 1960s, against fierce opposition from the tobacco industry. “It was a real uphill battle,” Ms. Nelson said. “For us this was a workplace issue; we had members who were experiencing shortness of breath and all of the problems created by secondhand smoke, up to and including deadly diseases like lung cancer. We really were the tipping point that allowed for smoke-free workplaces in this country."
"Robin Koval, the president of Legacy, a nonprofit organization that works to discourage tobacco use among young people, said that flight attendants’ efforts were crucial in creating smoke-free workplaces for everyone."
Today, advertising matches are used for lighting candles, barbecues, fireplaces, camping -anywhere instant fire is needed! While those that smoke rely upon butane lighters to light their cigars or cigarettes.
To order your business' own branded #match books or #matchboxes contact TheMatchGroup or CALL 800.605.7331 TODAY!
FEATURE MATCHES - Match Books with Colorful Images Printed Across Flattened Match Stems
ASSORTMENT OF VINTAGE "FEATURE" -MATCH BOOKS WITH CUSTOM PRINTED FLATTENED MATCH STEMS.
Branded Match Books serve as mementos from places that you've visited or vacationed at, make great keepsakes from cherished family events and obviously, are a convenient and reliable source of fire for lighting candles, fireplaces, barbecues, incense, igniting gas pilot lights, as well as an essential item for use when camping. To this day advertising matches remain as one of the most inexpensive and highest impact forms of advertising -serving as "Functional Business Cards" that are widely accepted by your customers for the uses mentioned above while at the same time serving to promote your business, product or service.
Over 60 years ago, match company salesman would pitch potential customers with the catchy phrase: "your match books act as 20 little salesmen" meaning that when each of the 20 individual matches (in a standard match book) was removed and struck by it's user, it served as an opportunity to reinforce your company's brand 20 times!
"You can't beat match books for good, inexpensive advertising," says John Williams, publicity manager of The American Matchcover Collecting Club. When traveling through the smallest towns, you should still be able to pick up matches from restaurants, hotels and businesses who still believe in the power of these economical "pocket billboards" to advertise their businesses.
Match cover collecting satisfies every collector's urge to organize, classify, categorize and display .
In this post I'll be featuring the highly collectible and unique FEATURE -match books with colorful images across flattened sticks. Lion Match Corporation was the first match manufacturer to design and produce the feature match book.
The first FEATURE match books were Giant Sized -about 4" tall!
1936 Giant Feature Match Book advertising a Buick sponsored NBC Radio Show1936 Giant Feature Match Book a Buick Sponsored NBC Boxing Radio ShowEarly GE Giant Feature Match BookEarly General Electric Giant Feature Match Book with Selling Tips
There were also other special options that were later introduced such as special die cut match cover shapes offered to enhance the image of the advertising product by making it stand out with a 2 Dimensional look outside in addition to the feature -printed match stems inside:
'57 Pontiac Special Die Cut Feature Match Book'57 Pontiac Match Book with Feature printed match stems depicting an illustration of their new V8 Engine
And an example of a Political Feature Match Book:
Wendell Wilkie Printed Stem Feature Match Book "What the People Want"
For the first time in 40 years, The Match Group is proud to announce that we have an exclusive arrangement to produce several styles of highly collectible and sought out vintage #featurematches -customized with your logo and ad copy to promote your business!
You can rely upon TheMatchGroupto keep the flame of match advertising lit! Call one of our match mavens at 800.605.7331 today to design your business' own branded advertising match books, match boxes or feature matchbooks!
Every week we'll be featuring the best in Vintage Match Book covers, as well as our "Board of Fame" featuring a range of whimsical and uniquely designed TheMatchGroup clients' matches!
Since we at TheMatchGroup are long time match collectors, it was natural for us to curate our Pinterest "Boards" by advertising themes such as:
So be sure to get in on the ”Hot Match on Striker Action” and call our team at TheMatchGroup 800.605.7331 to design your business's functional business cards, otherwise known as advertising matches!
Match book collecting is a fun and inexpensive way to create a visual record of your favorite destinations and worldwide travel.
During it's heyday from the 1940's-70's, matchbooks were available and distributed by a wide range of businesses for advertising such as flower shops, dry cleaners, car dealers, jewelry stores, dress shops, funeral homes and airlines, as well as by businesses to promote their wares and services to other businesses with highly detailed and artistically renderings of their products emblazoned on their match covers !
Today, matches are distributed for free as "functional business cards" by your favorite restaurants, hotels, as well as candle retailers and cigar and men's gift shops. While local bans on smoking have had an effect on reducing the number of businesses that used to distribute their matchbooks to their patrons, a resurgence and appreciation for the whimsical and usefulness of matchbooks as a collectible has seen a reversal in this trend.
While many matchbooks are very elaborately designed and are "little works of art", the value of your matchbook collection is measured by the memories at the time in which you collected them. The true beauty of the match collecting hobby lies not only with their practical use around the home but also in the way that they can act as a memento of unique experiences as well your personal stories surrounding those experiences. Getting started collecting matchbooks is easy to do and a display of colorful matches never fails to provide a great conversation piece when entertaining!
Get in on the ”Hot Match on Striker Action” and goto: TheMatchGroup or call one of our match mavens at TheMatchGroup's world headquarters located in Little Falls, NJ at 800.605.7331 to design your business' own branded advertising match books or boxes right now!
There are several feature articles about the effect that World War II has had on the factory's work force. It stated that one of the plant's first employees when the Hudson factory opened in 1930; Sergeant Anthony Cordato was killed in action during the Battle of the Marshall Islands.
Page 5 of UNIVERSAL TIPS Sept 1944 Magazine with notes from active Service Men in WWII who were employed at the Hudson, NY plant
The Hudson Plant Manager David Darwe wrote an article "SUMMING UP AND LOOKING FORWARD". In this piece, Mr Darwe described the effect that the war was having on the East Coast of America "...the war with it's terrible implications probably made a deeper impression in the East, particularly in the early stages, than the rest of the country". He went on to mention the frequent black outs and air raid drills and a fair number of his factory crews were active as air wardens or at air observation posts during their leisure time. Mr. Darwe was pleased with Universal's contribution to the war effort with production of propaganda match books shipped off to the Army and the Navy, as well as 43 men who left the plant to enter the various branches of the Armed Forces with the sad news that one employee was "never to return to join us at Hudson again"
HUDSON, NY FACTORY MGR DAVID DARWE. Who's previous place of employment was at the Swedish Match Corp.
My favorite portion of Mr. Darwe's article was his mention of the "girls" that stepped in where the men left off. "The opinions of many in the beginning as to whether the enlistment of the girls would turn out to be a success were discouraging (to put it mildly), however, it certainly is now evident that the girls are doing a swell job and everybody seems to consider their work as quite natural, whether they appear in overalls or in more conventional dress." Even after issuing that "compliment" he couldn't help but mention that " Fortunately most of our key men have remained with us in this trying period, a fact, we believe, that is worthy of emphasis."
It's worth noting that Universal Match Corp. operated five separate match production plants during this period -"The Golden Age of match book Advertising"
To promote your business and to get in on the ”Hot Match on Striker Action” call our match mavens at TheMatchGroup
at 800.605.7331 or shoot us an email at strike@getmatches.com and we'll be happy to guide you through the simple process of placing your custom branded match order!
