Several years ago, I purchased a large collection of antique
advertising. I was excited; this
collection was owned by a long time savvy antique collector, who had collected
for many years and who had a good eye for what would become valuable in the
years to come. We shared the love for
similar antiques. I absolutely love
anything and everything “country store”, and this collection included many
store tin containers, porcelain and tin advertising signs, advertising
calendars and other “go-withs”.
There were several advertising match holders in the
purchase, as well. I have always wanted some of these, but they are usually out of my price range. So now here I am with an
instant collection! Probably the most unusual one is the cardboard paper
match holder with the monkeys advertising silk stocking brand products.
I’ve never run across another one like
this.
Match safes were popular from 1870 until the 1930’s when
matchbooks and cigarette lighters replaced the need for most match
holders. At home, match holders were
used mainly for lighting a stove. Stove
manufacturers often advertised their products on cast iron match holders which
could be mounted to the kitchen wall to keep matches handy. Other wall mounted match holders were made of
tin and featured lithographed advertising for various products.
So now I have this great collection and it was a challenge to
decide how to display it! I didn’t want
a lot of nail holes in the wall, so I purchased pallet looking hanging boards
at Ben Franklin (or Michaels Craft store) and grouped the match holders on the
pallet, which I hung on the wall. As I
accumulate more match holders, I can hang more pallets. I’m still on the look out to add to my
collection. After all, it’s the thrill
of the hunt! 