LATEST CRAZE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 386, 22 November 1932, Page 7

LATEST CRAZE

MATCH BOX COLLECTOR'S CLUB FORMED IN EUROPE Coilecting match-box labels is a hobby taken just as seriously by some people nowadays as postage stamp and coin coilecting. One evidenee of this is the existence of a matchlabel collectoi s' club, which has members in six European countries and circulates about 20,000 labels a year. The club was .started in Southampton, England. The largest collection, of match labels is said to be that of a German tiamed Marc Haas, who has more than 25,000 specimens. A British manufacturing company has in its museum about 15,000 pieces. The creation of this hobby was an unexpeeted by-produet of the activities of the late Ivar Kreuger, Swedish match-king. Kreuger had match monopolies all over the world and his companies put over hundreds of different boxes. These match labels, in spite of the fact that the legends on them are generally printed in English, come from all over Europe. The subjects of the pictures are sufficiently indicated by such titles as those of "The Gorilla," "The Phonograph," "The Dancing Foxes," "The Sea-Dog," "The Matador," and no end of others. One of the rarest sets is the Swedish variety known to colleetors as the "Nurseryland" series. Each of these labels bears the . verses (translated) and an illustration of some popular English nursery rhyme. The label portion of the match-box desired by a collector is first dropped intb boilirig water to remove the wood and paper adhering to the back. When dry, the label is hinged, like a postage stamp, and mounted in an albiim, on a card or on a ioose sheet, either alphabetically or according to sUbject or eountry.