People of different nationalities, despite the mentality of their countries, all have a penchant for collecting. They collect everything in a row, from all well-known brands, coins and beer cans to exclusive vintage cars. In this article we will get acquainted with another common type of collecting.
If you’ve never heard the word “phylum enistics” in your life, it’s not a problem. Such a rare name is the collection area for matchbox labels or matchboxes themselves. These light sticks are produced in all countries of the world, so there are actually a lot of philumenists.
The forums often contain correspondence between matchstick lovers who brag about their collections and put them up for exchange or sale. There is even a club of philumenists, having come to which, you can get information about rare items and the history of releases of a particular series of packages.
Who invented the matches?
In the history of medieval China, wooden sticks with sulfur-soaked ends were used. But they were set on fire by a burning tinder. Then Jean Chansel, a chemist from France, invented match heads in 1805 that needed contact with sulfuric acid. These were the so-called chemical matches. Collectors are known in the world for collecting matchbox labels, who have the first chemical matches of the Maliard and Wick manufactory, released in Vienna in 1813.
It is believed that the invention of modern matches belongs to John Walker. As early as 1826, the first packaging of matches with friction was sold according to historical records of his books. This is a pharmacist and chemist from Stockton-on-Tees in Britain.
First collectors
It was at this time that the mass production of these consumer goods began. With the advent of packages of spontaneously sticks, people who want to collect them immediately appear. In the same period, the formation of clubs, communities, and experts in the field of philumenism begins. These are the first specialists studying the manufactured goods.
Already after the Second World War, literature devoted to various types of matches is published, describing different subspecies, to which topics these or those labels are devoted. Now every country has its own communities having international contacts with clubs from other countries. The British Matchbox Label & Booklet Society is considered the largest and world famous.
Phylogeny is a term literally translated from Greek, as philos - "love", and lumen - "fire". The proposal to call this collection area belongs to Marjorie Evans. This British collector combined the combination of these words back in 1943. In the Soviet Union, too, many were carried away by this interesting matter.
Initially, this area of gathering was called philumenism. This is considered to be the old name, now collectibles are often called another term - "phylum."
Types of Matches
Let's look at exactly what matches attract collectors. In addition to the usual boxes used in everyday life, there are also special ones, which not all people use.
Storm, or in another way - hunting, sailors or hunters take with them on hikes. Such matches burn well in strong winds and do not deteriorate from moisture.
Thermal - give a lot of heat during combustion.
Photographic - used to be used as a flash.
Mantelpieces are matches of large sizes. They kindle fire in fireplaces.
Gas - a little smaller than the fireplace. They light the gas-fired burners.
Signal - when burning, the flame has bright contrasting colors.
Cigar - they have a larger size than ordinary items. After all, smoking a cigar is not so simple, it takes a long time.
We will consider the next view in more detail.
Decorative matches
What does the philologist collect? Most of them are matches, which are produced in limited quantities. They are dedicated to some kind of memorable dates, significant events in the life of a country or a given city. And the wooden sticks themselves have different colors of sulfur. They can be green, pink or even blue.
Back in the days of the Soviet Union, whole sets were produced for lovers of phylum studies. These are gift sets of boxes dedicated to any topic. For example, about space, dogs, the railroad, cars, etc. Sometimes sets of match labels were specially produced for philamenists. For example, from 1960 to 1980, the Balabanovskaya experimental match factory produced sets of 100 labels for collecting. Such souvenirs contained both complete sets and without gross. These are labels from box covers and side ribbons.
In Soviet times, the production of such gift sets was also carried out by the Baltic label manufacturers.
Russian collectors
The definition of the word "phylum enistics" was not yet known in Russia, and matches were not yet made, and the first collectors had already brought interesting boxes from trips abroad. At first it was a simple curiosity, and the desire to brag to relatives about an unprecedented miracle, but even during the First World War, information was published in the journal about the collection of boxes of 1000 copies.
When revolutionaries came to power, such a hobby was considered a relic of the bourgeois system. Many collections have been destroyed. Only in the 30s was permission given officially. And in 1960, the first sections of phylumany were organized.
Situation now
Back in the late 90s in Russia there were only two clubs for collectors of match labels. With the advent of the Internet, philumenia has also gained a new round of development. In St. Petersburg and Moscow, even the magazines Moscow Phylogenist, Sphinx, and Nevsky Phylogenist are published.
There are philumenist clubs in major cities, sites and forums are organized on which interesting collections or individual copies are exchanged or sold.