Is the accumulation of matchboxes considered valuable?
In the digital age, a new fad is sweeping across social media platforms, and this time, it's all about matchboxes. TikTok is driving the current resurgence in matchbox collecting, primarily through creative content showcasing vintage and custom matchbox collections, artistic designs, and unique gift ideas.
The excitement around this nostalgic hobby is palpable on TikTok, where collectors share their collections from various places, offer tips on building collections, and engage with communities around matchbox art and collectibles. The platform's visual storytelling and social engagement have breathed new life into a collector culture with roots in societies like the British Matchbox Label and Bookmatch Society, founded in 1945.
The British Matchbox Label and Bookmatch Society was a traditional collectors’ club focused on the preservation and appreciation of matchbox labels and matchbook covers, especially collectible or artistically significant ones. Such societies typically emerged during the mid-20th century, when matchboxes and matchbooks were common advertising mediums and souvenirs. They organized exhibitions, publications, and exchanges among collectors, fostering a community around match item philately and ephemera.
This historical background complements the current TikTok-driven resurgence, indicating a long-standing cultural interest in matchbox collecting that is now revitalized through digital community formation and modern reinterpretations.
The hobby of collecting matchboxes, matchbooks, and other match-related items is known as phillumeny. The young are embracing this hobby and displaying their collections at home and online. Related searches on Etsy for phillumeny items rose 92% in the three months to the beginning of August from a year earlier, suggesting a growing interest in this nostalgic pastime.
Phillumeny can be a way to document what may one day disappear, as stated by Britta Lokting in The New York Times Magazine. Some people associate matches with a certain restaurant-hopping lifestyle, as mentioned by Lee. Matchbooks can trigger memories of specific nights out or conversations, making them cherished keepsakes.
The resurgence of interest in phillumeny harks back to a time when matches were ubiquitous as smoking and advertising tools. Today, they serve as objects of beauty that evoke a specific character of an establishment, as Britta Lokting in The New York Times Magazine pointed out.
For those interested in phillumeny, there are various options available. You can buy posters and prints celebrating matchboxes on Etsy. A phillumeny-themed wallet is available from New York fashion house Kate Spade. For parties, matchbooks can be ordered.
However, some question whether a passion for matchbooks can survive in an era where smoking in bars is illegal, as Christopher Howse in The Spectator wondered. Yet, the continued growth of the phillumeny community on TikTok suggests that this nostalgic hobby has found a new home in the digital age.
The letters written in the 1980s and early 1990s reminiscing about the society's early days can be found on the British Matchbox Label and Bookmatch Society's website, offering a glimpse into the history of this long-standing collector culture. A founding member of the British Matchbox Label and Bookmatch Society exhorted the young to carry the society forward, indicating a continuous passion for matchbox collecting that has spanned generations.
In conclusion, TikTok's role is as a contemporary platform that revitalizes and spreads enthusiasm for matchbox collecting through visual storytelling and social engagement, building on a collector culture with roots in societies like the British Matchbox Label and Bookmatch Society. The resurgence of interest in phillumeny serves as a testament to the enduring appeal of these small, seemingly insignificant objects, which hold a wealth of nostalgia, history, and cultural significance.
