BULLETIN

BULLETIN
PRESIDENT
TREASURER
Loren Moore
Jack Benbrook
POB 1181
1328 E. Rosser St.
Roseville, CA 95678 Prescott AZ 86301
877-752-6247
928-772-3763
No. 290
MEM SECRETARY
EDITOR
Janet Johnk
Mike Prero
6 Truman Dr
12659 Eckard
Novato,CA 94947 Auburn,CA 95603
415-897-6724
530-885-3604
March 2009
by
Mike Prero
Here‟s a category that you very rarely see on anyone‟s list of wants (as a matter of fact, doing some fast
checking on my hobby stationery, I don‟t even have it listed as one of my categories!), and yet I‟ve
collected such covers almost since my entrance into the hobby some 26 years ago. I never advertised this
want; I just put these covers aside in a box whenever I happened to run across any, and eventually months
I finally sat down, sorted them and put them in a couple of albums. I found I had 526! (623 now)
Although there are some fancies to be found here, namely among the Atlas, Maryland, and Universal
No. 290
SIERRA-DIABLO BULLETIN-March 2009
Page 2
types, this is generally a pretty lackluster group of covers if you‟re only looking for appearance. But, over
the years, I‟ve become more and more interested in old covers, match industry history, trademarks,
manumarks, and the like, and I find Match Company covers now hold my interest much more so than they
did in my novice days of collecting. They not only boldly advertise the industry, itself, but also, in some
instances, carry valuable pieces of industry history—trademark names, factory and headquarter locations,
founding dates, etc.
So, what exactly are “Match Company” covers? Well, as the covers shown here demonstrate, they‟re
covers that advertise the match company, itself, rather than a customer of the company. And, although I
don‟t have some from every such company, I would assume that they exist for all such companies, not just
the giants such as Diamond and Universal. Not surprisingly, I cherish the ones from the older, defunct
companies the most—the old Atlas Match Co., General, Gem, Jersey, etc.
Within my own collection, I also include companies that weren‟t actual manufacturers—those printing
and advertising companies that left their marks on the industry and the hobby—such as Kaeser & Blair,
Willens & Co., and the like. Such inclusions or exclusions from the category would, of course, be at the
discretion of the individual collector.
Using my own collection as a sample (which is the only one I have to go on), I can see just about all
sizes: 10s, 12s, 20s, 30s, 40s, Jewels, and boxes. I haven‟t see a Midget, Perfect 36, or 24-strike in this
category, yet, but I‟m always looking. As you might guess, these covers are mostly text rather than spiffy
graphics, especially on the older covers. There are some Uniglos, Foilites, Pearltones, and Matchoramas
from Universal, some Foilite-like and Cameo-like covers from Maryland, and some Foilite-covers from
Lion and Eddy....but you probably need to be interested in history to be attracted to this category.
No. 290
SIERRA-DIABLO BULLETIN-March 2009
Page 3
Trademarks—Oey Vey!
Some collectors don‟t pay all that much attention to them, but I do. But, I have to admit it‟s often
frustrating....because, when one actually takes a look at the „big picture‟, one quickly finds that
manufacturers 1) didn‟t even put most of their trademarked names on the covers! 2) didn‟t use them
uniformly even when they did put trademarks on covers; and 3) apparently didn‟t use any discernible rhyme
or reason in deciding which trademark to use on covers when there conjunctives involved.
We‟re all used to seeing some trademarks—Cameo, Matchorama, Foilite—but when‟s the last time you
saw “Matchtone”, “Taffeta”, Taffeta Foil”, “Jumbo King”, “Rhapsody”, “Orleans”, and a wealth of others?
The simple fact is that many of the manufacturers used many of their trademarked names apparently as „inhouse‟ references only, never actually putting said names on the covers. They would use those names in
salesmen‟s sample books to refer to those cover types and might have even put out some initial covers
advertising that type (with the trademark on the outside), but they never actually put the trademark on later
covers on the inside (which is the traditional place for trademarks), nor used the trademark on later covers
at all.
Then there‟s the frustration that comes from the manufacturer using the trademark on some of the covers,
but not all of them, and certainly not consistently. Here, the collector has to first recognize the cover type;
recognize that it‟s, indeed, from the manufacturer that puts out that trademarked type; and finally categorize
that cover as the trademarked type, despite the fact that the trademark doesn‟t appear on the cover. It‟s a
small frustration, granted, but life would be that much simpler if things were just a bit more uniform.
Then, there are all those covers, usually Fancies, that are conjunctives and therefore are two or more
trademarked types simultaneously. Does the manufacturer put all the appropriate trademarks on the cover?
Nope! Only one...And how that particular choice is made I have no idea. Such cases usually involve
Universal covers, since Universal was putting out most of the Fancies...So, one might be looking at a
Cameo/Foilite/Matchorama, but it would only show the Matchorama trademark. Did the manufacturer have
some sort of priority list it used in making such a choice? (i.e., Matchoramas always take precedence over
Cameo; Cameo always takes precedence over Foilite; and so forth). Apparently not, because I‟ve seen
examples to the contrary in almost all such cases. So, was the final choice of which trademark to use simply
made at random?
And then, there‟s the small group of trademarked-type covers that do not bear the manumark of the
manufacturer, but rather the name of the middleman-distributor, such as “Jones Advertising & Spec. Co.”
You know that cover is a Universal Foilite, but there‟s no trademark and there‟s nothing saying that it‟s
actually a Universal cover. Frustrating! I don‟t put such covers in my collections of Cameos, Signets, etc.
Finally, there are the error covers that fall into this discussion—not the miscuts, not the covers missing
strikers, and the like, but the covers that have the trademark name on the inside...only the cover is obviously
not that type!. You‟ve seen them—Uniglo covers that aren‟t Uniglos; Foilites that aren‟t Foilites, etc.
Technically, of course, they are errors (and some are obviously errors), but, generally, I don‟t really know
that such covers were actually mistakes. For all I know, they could have been overruns, for example, with
the final Fancy application withheld as a cost-saving measure.
Any way you cut it, dealing in Trademarks is definitely interesting, and, as with all categories, knowing a
little something about the background behind the topic just makes it all the more so.
No. 290
SIERRA-DIABLO BULLETIN-March 2009
Errors X: End-of-Roll
Here‟s an easily spotted, quite dramatic type of error...This rather
spectacular-looking, end-of-roll error happens when the paper stock roll
runs out during production. The result is a cover that has a partially finished
surface (as it was designed to have) and a partially rough, cardboard finish.
If it‟s not caught, the printing process goes on as normal, right over both
portions of the cover, resulting in the cover design/text being printed on
both the correct and incorrect cover surfaces.
Depending on where the roll is at that particular point, the cover can either
be overlaid to a small degree (look at the top cover here; only the upper
right corner shows the error) or may be mostly covered or even totally
covered (the bottom right hand cover approximately 97% end-of-roll, with
only a thin, strip of the correct finish showing on the right side , starting at
the saddle and going up).
Also, this type of error may show up on only one side of the cover
(outside or inside) or both sides. In the examples that I‟ve seen, it seems to
be just about evenly split.
By the way, this type of error adds significantly to the thickness of the
resulting cover, since an additional, heavier, layer of paper has been added
to the cover.
….Next issue...Reverse Creasing...ohhhhh!
Page 4
No. 290
SIERRA-DIABLO BULLETIN-March 2009
Page 5
Dealing With Postal Costs
When I was born in 1945, a first class stamp cost 3¢; when I graduated high school in 1963, that stamp
cost 5¢; when I married in 1973, it cost 8¢; when I first entered the hobby in 1983, it was up to 20¢; in
2000, I was forking out 33¢ per stamp; and in May of this year, that same stamp is going to cost 44¢.
What can you get for 44¢? With a letter and envelope, you can mail 13-16 20-strike covers. It varies,
depending on whether you‟re sending older or newer covers. The older covers are thicker and weigh more.
But, even with 14 covers and a 44¢ stamp, you can still end up with your own letter returned to you with
„POSTAGE DUE‟ stamped on it [very frustrating!...Even more so, when your trader’s envelope arrives ,
and you’re expected to pay the postage due costs!]
Well, you can at least avoid this problem by not simply shoving all those 14 covers into the envelope as
one stack. The post office charges extra for what it considers „extra thick‟ first class letters. So, you want to
spread that thickness out throughout the envelope. In a regular-sized envelope, you take the 14 covers,
divide them into two groups of seven, wrapping each separately with a paper strip and a piece of tape, and
then tape the two groups side by side and insert into envelope. Voilá! Now your envelope is only seven
covers thick, rather than fourteen, and there won‟t be any nasty „POSTAGE DUE‟ surprises on either side
of the mailing.
However, that‟s only one problem. Since the post office charges by weight, it‟s obviously less expensive
to mail 20-strikes, rather than 30 or 40-strikes, and it‟s even more obvious that domestic mailings are less
expensive than foreign mailings.
As a result, I try not to send a lot of 30 and 40-strikes in trade. The other side of that solution, however,
is that I eventually deplete my trading stock of 20-strikes and end up with all those 30s and 40s forlornly
sitting around my storage areas.
Always try and get the most for your postage when trading. For example, if you see your normal trades of
15 covers per swap are running more than that first ounce, you might as well up your trades to 25 per time,
since you‟re already paying the extra postage anyway.
Foreign postage, especially when sending covers, is, to my mind, horrendously expensive and normally
prohibitive. With domestic mailings, when you trade 14 covers for their 14 covers, it costs you basically 3¢
per cover. When you send the same 14 covers to Canada, it costs you 5¢ per cover, and when you send
those covers to Germany, it runs 7¢. The latter is more than double what domestic postage would cost, so,
unless I know what I‟m getting in that overseas trade and I really want it, I try to avoid foreign trades.
Of course, all of this is for sending covers back and forth. For simply
correspondence, e-mail has been a God-send!
I couldn‟t even begin to calculate how much
postage I‟ve saved over the last ten years
simply by using e-mail instead.
Now, what we really need is e-mail that
actually sends 3-dimesional objects!
No. 290
SIERRA-DIABLO BULLETIN-March 2009
Page 6
An American Tour:
31
Houston’s AstroWorld
AstroWorld was the home of many unique attractions and also developed or debuted several prototype ride
concepts including the world's first river rapids ride ( Thunder River, 1980), the first successful Arrow suspendedswinging coaster (XLR-8, 1984), the first Arrow mine train coaster to utilize tall steel column supports (Dexter
Frebish Electric Roller Ride, 1972), and the first S&S Power sky-swatter ride (SWAT, 2003).
The park's original layout was created by famed Hollywood designer and architect, Randall Duell, who also
worked on Six Flags Over Texas, Magic Mountain, as well as Marriott's Great America parks, among others. The
park name, as well as the names of The Astrodome, the Astros baseball team, and all other Astrodomain properties,
were a homage to Houston, as home of the Johnson Space Center, in 1965.
AstroWorld was constructed on land that was swampy and prone to flooding. Approximately one million cubic
yards of dirt were used to fill the site in preparation for construction. Some areas of the site were filled to depths as
great as six feet. Ahead of its time, a unique feature of the park's infrastructure included 2,400 tons of outdoor air
conditioning powered by systems built by Carrier Corporation. Underground pipes carrying chilled water radiated
out to most areas of the park and provided cool air to queue lines, picnic tables, shops, restaurants and other large
open spaces. Air conditioning ducts and grates were disguised and blended to match the area's theming. No expense
was spared in the design of AstroWorld and very high standards
were set by Judge Hofheinz. Guest comfort and overall
experience while visiting the park were of high concern. Many
rare and valuable antiques, some from Mr. Hofheinz's personal
collection, were used to enhance the theming in areas. The
original landscaping, all designed in-house, included
approximately 10,000 trees, 20,000 shrubs, and countless millions
of flowers; nearly 600 varieties of plants were combined to create
a distinct atmosphere for each of the themed areas.
In 2005, Six Flags CEO, Kieran Burke, announced that the
company's legendary AstroWorld theme park in Houston, Texas,
would be closed and demolished at the end of the 2005 season.
Some of Astro-World and WaterWorld's rides and attractions
were relocated to
other parks while
many were scrapped
or were too badly
damaged
during
demolition to be
reassembled elsewhere.
[ h t t p : / / e n .
wikipedia.org/
wiki/
No. 290
SIERRA-DIABLO BULLETIN-March 2009
New Members
918. Helen Dawley, 905 Mayfair
Dr., Arlington Heights, IL 005
Collects: General
____________
Reinstated
266. Larry Bell, 31439 Jean
Court , Abbot sford, B.C.
V2T5N9, Canada
Collects: British Columbia,
Girlies, Excise Tax, Vista-Lite/
Grant Mann, Space/Royalty, and
Americana (Perkins)
Ads
WEEKLY
ON-LINE
AUCTION: 60 lots per week;
featured topic each week, but
always with good selection of
other categories. Runs SundaySunday. http://matchpro.org
WANTED: USO covers. Will
trade from other categories.
Mike Prero, 12659 Eckard Way,
Auburn, CA 95603
LOOKING FOR DIFFERENT
Fred Harvey covers. Please
contact Russell Potter, 19088
192nd Ave., Spiro, OK 74959
(918-962-5271)
RAILROAD
COVERS
WANTED: Especially looking
for Diamond Quality, Safety
First, Feature, Hostess and UP
agent
covers
from
railroads. James Sekavec 616
N. Alexander, Hoisington, KS
67544 620-653 2740 ,jsekavec
@cox.net
WANTED:
Drunkard
series
Match covers and Chez Paree
series covers. Will send list of
wanted covers if you are
interested in selling or trading in
your category. Don Marquette
2601 Houston St., Fort Smith,
AR 72901-7317 donmarq
@att.net or 1-479-646-7661
Coming Up
8th ANNUAL SIERRADIABLO SPRING SWAPFEST: April 4th and 5th, 2009;
Heritage Inn, 201 Harding
Blvd., Roseville, CA (800-2284747 or 916- 782-4466. Room:
$55/$65. Early Bird BBQ on
Friday, April 3. Complete
details on our web site. FMI:
Loren Moore, POB 1181,
Roseville, CA 95678 (877-7526247)
TRANS-CANADA SWAPFEST: April 23-25, 2009,
Holiday Inn, 1485 Garrison Rd.,
Ft. Eric, Ont., CAN (888-2695550). Room $99 (single/
double), $149 (suite). All the
usual great activities. See the
Trans-Canada web site for more
details: http://www.
matchesTCMC.com/
AMCAL 2009: May 17-23,
Piccadilly Inn, Fresno, CA.
Room: $83. Theme: Hooray for
Hollywood. This is the big one
in the West. More details to
follow. This is the big one in the
West. More details to follow.
Ellen Gutting, 824 Peachy
Canyon, Cir #101, Las Vegas,
NV 89144-0907
UNITED
EASTERN
Page 7
SWAPFEST: Jun 17-20, 2009.
Plaza Hotel, Hagerstown, PA (1800-732-0906). Room: $89$118). Auctions, Awards
banquet, Dealers, Displays, Grab
tables, Free Chicken & Pizza
meal, and much more. FMI:
St e l l a
Wi l l i a m s,
[email protected] or 937890-8684 .
RMS CONVENTION 2009:
Aug. 10-15, Plaza Hotel,
Hagerstown, MD, conveniently
located in the heart of the
beautiful Cumberland Valley at
Exit 5A off I-81, just one-half
mile north of I-70. 301-7972500/800 -732 -0906/e -mai l :
[email protected]. Single
room: $89+tax; Suite: $118154+tax. Theme: South of
Mason-Dixon Line in 2009.
It’s Swapfest Time!
Alright! It‟s only a few more
weeks until our annual Sierra
Spring Swapfest! And that only
means one thing...COVERS!
I slide all my trading trays into
my truck and off I go down the
freeway. A few minutes later, I
pull into the parking lot of the
Heritage Inn, set up all my stuff
on one of the tables, and that‟s
where I am for the rest of the
day! Doing what I do best—
sorting through covers!
If you haven‟t made plans to
go yet, you‟ll be sorry! Contact
Loren now and let him know
you‟re coming. Saturday is
tradin‟ and an auction—Sunday
is a huge auction. What more
No. 290
Happy Birthday!
Bachochin, John....................3-1
Mendonca, Raulin.................3-7
Tate, Michael........................3-7
Johnk, Janet.........................3-12
Crum, Dwain.......................3-16
Cole, Larry..........................3-18
Danver, Larry......................3-24
Franz, Robert......................3-29
Gray, Tom...........................3-30
could you want?!...
Refreshments! We‟ll have those,
too! We even through in Spring
time in California as a bonus!
[better make your reservations
fast before our politicians tax
Spring and everything else out of
existence] Hope to see you
there!
Do You List Covers?
I‟m going to revamp the
Master List of Lists, and there
are a number of listings that
have apparently fallen by the
wayside over the years, due to
the lister‟s demise, retirement
from the hobby, etc. We‟re
going to try and fix that.
Please go to my web site
(http://matchpro.org) and check
out the Master List of Lists page.
If you see anything about the
category that you list that needs
to be changed, please let me
know ASAP, including the date
of the last listing update.
I‟m going to run the entire
listing in an upcoming RMS
Bulletin so everyone can see
where the master list currently
SIERRA-DIABLO BULLETIN-March 2009
stands.
Eventually, we will hopefully
be able to determine which
listings are stagnant and/or
abandoned. Then we can get
other collectors to take them
over and maintain them.
Just e-mail me or drop me a
line with any info you have to
contribute. Do you do a listing
that‟s not even listed? Be sure
and let me know that, as well,
and you‟ll be added.
April 1 Dues
Deadline Coming
No joke! Unless you‟ve paid
for multiple years in advance,
March’s Smile
Page 8
your annual dues deadline is
approaching—April 1st. We‟re
shooting for 100% member
renewal this year (!), so make
Treasurer Jack Benbrook‟s day
by sending him your renewal
before the April 1st date.
Otherwise, it‟s really a hassle.
Get your check in the mail
now, while you‟re thinking
COMING
UP
Apr: “April Fools!”
Jun: “Americana”
Jul:
“Old
Lion’s”
Replace
with advertising
text
SIERRA-DIABLO...we’re
the hottest club in the
hobby! Company Name
The Sierra-Diablo Bulletin is a
monthly publication of the SierraDiablo Matchcover Club. Deadline
for all submissions is the 10th of
each month. Any information
herein may be reproduced with
appropriate credit line. Dues of
$10 (individual), $15 (family), $15
(Canada/Mexico) or $20 (outside
N. America) are payable to the
Sierra-Diablo Matchcover Club, c/
o Jack Benbrook, 1328 E. Rosser
St., Prescott, AZ 86301.
Visit theSierra-Diablo Web Site at:
http://www.matchcover.org/sierra
You can reach the Ed. on line at
[email protected] for help
with Bulletin/hobby questions,
concerns or problems.