Student Hippies facing off against the National Guard
Just like any printed matter, match book advertising qualifies as a form of free speech in America. Therefore, making the circumstances under which the wording of a matchbook advertisement might be deemed to be an element of a crime very narrow under the First Amendment.
Nevertheless, there have been cases where matchbook advertising/propaganda has been known to test the limits of the law. For example, during the politically charged antiwar era of the late 1960's/early '70's matchbooks printed with the message "EOW" were distributed at Bloomfield State College in West Virginia. These letters stood as the acronym for "End of Week". The secret message behind these letters was passed along by the students encouraging them to burn the campus if the demands of certain student groups were not met by the end of the week.[1]
During this tumultuous period in our country's history; when our country was experiencing rampant (and deadly) college student protests against the Vietnam War and a series of riots fueled by rage in response to the news of the assassination of M.L.K. that resulted in the destruction of many major cities, match advertising was also used by "The Man" as a means to "counter" the "counterculture". "The Man" in this case was a Dallas Police Officer who decided to design and distribute his own matchbooks as propaganda to advertise his support for his fellow patrolmen with apparent success. So as the story goes, during the late '60's and early '70's members of the angry Hippie counterculture referred to Law Enforcement Officers as "Pigs." This Dallas Policeman, decided to take the sting out of the counterculture's disrespectful use of the word "Pig" by acknowledging it and to repurpose it in his own personal public relations campaign by distributing matchbooks along his beat that he had printed with the message "Leonard Edge: Pig and Proud!".[2]
The use of match book advertising by Law Enforcement didn't end after the '70's. Since then, local Police Departments and the FBI have used printed advertising matches as a method to aid in the capture of wanted fugitives, to advertise local D.A.R.E. anti-drug programs, as well as local "Cop Shot" Tips Hotline reward programs. Furthermore, back in 1995 -6 years PRIOR to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon which lead to our engagement in two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the CIA and the local authorities in Pakistan had successfully distributed wanted posters along and MATCHBOOKS as a medium for advertising a $2 Million reward for the capture of wanted international terrorists such as Mir Amal Kansi who was wanted in the brutal attack outside CIA headquarters in 1993 in which two people were killed and three other people were permanently injured.[3]
To order your business' own groovy advertising matches check out TheMatchGroup
Man or call a member of our very hip and cool sales staff at 800.605.7331. who would love to turn your business' clients on to the experience of your custom branded match advertising!
[1] James v. West Virginia Bd. Of Regents, 322 F.Supp. 217 (S.D. W.Va., 1971), aff'd 448 F.2d 785 (4th Cir. 1971).
[2] Minor v. State, 469 S.W.2d 579 (Tex. Crim. App. 1971); Minor v. State, 476 S.W.2d 694 (Tex. Crim. App. 1972).
I've noticed that my blog posts that feature FEATUREMatchBooks with special printed match stems seem to receive a lot of hits! I happened to stumble upon and repost this item from the blogger The Invisible Agent, who tastefully posted a nice collection of Lion Match Corp's 21 "Feature" #matchbooks that featured #printedmatchstems.
The Match Group is proud to announce that we now offer the a modern version of the "vintage" printed match feature option for you to promote your business! Feature match books are highly collectible and are a big hit on social media sites like Instagram and Pinterest!
We will be adding more info on our site.
In the meantime, here are some pics of 2 different style match books that we now offer that include optional special feature matches!
Contains either the standard width feature match stems or special die cut shaped matches that can also be custom printed!contains 2 rows of 5 Special printed wider feature matches
Joseph Martinez Oil Painting using the inside covers of match books as his canvas!
A fascinating re-purposing of Paper match books that are used by the artist Joseph Martinez to create original life like oil paintings as mini works of pocket fine art!
Check out the video montage of Joseph's fascinating work on Vimeo:
A vary retro style 40 Stem 3" Wide Paper Match Book produced for "Trailer Park Lounge" in NYC.
KEEPSAKES: 1) TACTILE ADVERTISING
If offered, most people will gladly collect match books as they leave a restaurant or a retail business to save as a memento of their pleasant experience. They serve as a tangible reminder -what we like to call "functional business cards". Most importantly, from the restaurateur's/advertiser's perspective they act as a method for a satisfied customer to use to recommend their restaurant or business to their friends and family. Furthermore, these colorful & useful 3 dimensional pocket advertisers make much more of an impression serving as a token of thanks to your customers as opposed to the default plain one-dimensional non-functional business card that ends up being forgotten in their back pockets only to end up in next week's laundry!
KEEPSAKES: 2) FOR USE AROUND THE HOUSE
Match Books DO NOT promote smoking because most smokers carry lighters. Recipients of a restaurant's advertising matches are pleased with the many uses that matches provide around the house such as: lighting the backyard grill, decorative candles, hurricane candles and birthday candles, their fireplace, their gas stove or relighting a gas pilot light. Plus, for over the past 110+ years, matchbooks have proven to be the most economical & most effective form of direct advertising for a business and are much more collectible than your basic business card. Many matches are collected and displayed at home, making them great conversation starters for one's guests!
You can rely upon TheMatchGroupfor your business' own unique match advertising campaign! Call one of our match mavens at 800.605.7331 today to get started designing your business' own branded advertising match books or match boxes!
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!
