Front Design: The front of the matchbook has a black and white player photo surrounded by a silver border. The player's name and team appear above the photo on the "top" (called the saddle) of the matchbook.
Back Design: The matchbook back contains a short biography inside a border with a glove/ball/crossed bat header. The inside of the matchbook (which would be the back side of the image above) is blank. The match strike appears below the biography and identifying mark "THE DIAMOND MATCH CO. NEW YORK" (obviously cut or torn from my example).
Parallels and Similars: Red, green, blue, and orange backgrounds exist for each player, and are equally scarce. There are three additional series of covers with different designs.
Distribution: Matchbooks were a popular collectible in the 1930s, and generally sold two for a penny.
Thoughts: Matchbooks are fairly unique as far as cards go, so this is a fun addition to my collection. I would like to have a complete matchbook from one of the Diamond Match Co. issues, because this one is lacking identifying characteristics of a matchbook. This would be an interesting way to release a baseball issue these days, given the views towards tobacco, which most matchbooks are used for (I guess - or birthday candles).
Additional Links: Century Old Cards has a page devoted to all the Diamond Match Company issues. Old Baseball has a checklist.
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