1935-36 Diamond Match Co. Series 3 Type 1

This is the first of four posts this weekend depicting vintage cards found at last weekend's Alameda Antiques Fair.

Set size: 151 or 156 (depending on source) matchbooks

Front Design: The front of a closed matchbook contains a sepia colored player photo inside an off-white border. The player's name and team name appears on the saddle with a baseball banner. This series is bordered in red, green, or blue.

Back Design: The back of the closed matchbook contains the player's name and a career biography. A light-blue background with a white silhouette of a batter appears behind the text. On the bottom edge is "THE DIAMOND MATCH CO. N.Y.C." The inside of the matchbook is blank.

Parallels and Similars: There were four matchbook sets issued by the Diamond Match Co. Series 3 is distinguishable by the baseball on the saddle, the colored (red, green, or blue) borders, and the lack of a team name on the back. Type 2 contains almost entirely Cubs (including Tex Carleton), and can be distinguished by the stats on the back. (This is a Type 1 because Carleton was 28 in 1935. Type 2 is essentially a 1937 issue, so it would list his age as 29 or 30.)

Distribution: Matchbooks were big collectibles in the 1930s, and they were readily available with the large number of smokers back then.

Thoughts: These matchbooks are fairly unique additions to my collection. I'm not aware of any other baseball player matchbook sets issued, though I imagine (and vaguely recall) team logo matchbooks exist.

Additional Links: Old Cardboard tends to be my online resource for pre-war sets. They have a page combining all four series of the Diamond Match Co. books.

1934 Diamond Match Co. Silver Border

Set size: 200 matchbooks

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.