Beyond The Cover: The Art of Phillumeny

By Michael Perlman

Largely gone are the days where matchbooks were readily available alongside a cash register. If you have an old matchbook or matchcover cover sitting around and collecting dust, chances are that it offers value in the name of history, advertising, culture, and art.

Among the most popular forms of ephemera to collect consist of matchcovers, postcards, stamps, and photographs. Matchcovers, matchbooks, matchboxes, and matchbox labels lend themselves to a unique hobby known as phillumeny. If the matches are intact, their desirability often increases for a phillumenist.

A Philadelphia lawyer named Joshua Pusey (1842 – 1906), also known as “Ol’ Josh,” is recognized as the “Flexible Match” inventor in 1892, and is the first credited m

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