



@Harvey
Are the matches still inside?

No, they are removed for safety reasons! If it is a box of matches the matches are removed and the box is flattened. If it is a book of matches the staple is removed and the matches are disposed of and the booklet is displayed flattened. There are special album pages designed for this sort of thing. I can't post a scan yet but here's a link to show the match books! https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/ ...
There are many people who collect match book covers.
@Harvey
Sounds like a HOT collection!

It seems like a fairly common price for these on E-Bay is somewhere around $10 CD which seems a bit crazy to me. I'm also not sure how you would collect these, every restaurant would have had one so there would be a huge number of them. My collection is mostly local with some exceptions. You could also do a military collection since most ships issued their own. Halifax was a big naval area during WWII so I have several of those. Without appearing to be a misogynist girly ones were also very popular and many businesses went that route. You also get really interesting animal versions, for example Black Horse beer. I've added very little to what I have since I bought it as a ready made collection many years ago. As 1899 says, it really is a hot collectible and seems to be picking up steam as smoking becomes less popular, which sounds a bit odd. At the beginning of the week I'll post a couple pages and maybe it might turn some of you onto a new collectible, it sort of is stamp related because of the revenue tax aspect!

Here's two random pages from my match book collection. Most are NS but a few are from the rest of Canada. You'll note that many of them have the revenue tax double circle! I've added a bit to the collection over the years but it's mostly as I picked it up about 20 years ago. There are about 30 double sided pages. I seem to remember paying about $100 for the collection which seemed at the time to be a lot! Most of these businesses would be long gone. This takes us back to the time when almost everyone smoked and items like this were free in almost every business, especially restaurants. A collection like this keeps the history of the area alive a bit. Most of the collection is from the 1940's and 1950's. Giveaways like this have disappeared now, I think, but I have a small collection separate from these that my wife and I accumulated 30 - 40 years ago picking up one at every restaurant we ate at.


That's a great collection Harvey. Matchbooks are an awesome thing to collect. There was a time when almost everyone smoked (needed matches) and almost every business printed matchbooks as advertisement. There are people from very small towns that will pay $10-$15 for a matchbook from a long shuttered diner or bar. There might be some sleepers in that collection that would bring a few bucks on eBay.

The ones I really like are the ones issued by the Canadian naval vessels in WWII. Halifax was a major port at the time and all ships stopped there and many of the convoys crossing the Atlantic started there. I have a douzen or so of these and have always meant to do some research on what happened to the various ships. There is amazing history in this stuff and I would love to find a local collector to pass it on to. I see some of these selling on E-Bay for large amounts. I remember years ago seeing the Massey Harris (later to turn into Massey Ferguson) one selling for about $50, amazing! I've always had an interest in horses and have an interesting one with Black Horse on the front, probably for Black Horse beer. I've been tempted to work on expanding the collection but stamps seem to take all my extra time and $$$$. Thanks for showing an interest Ernie, we would probably disagree on many things but not on matters involving good taste!
Harvey, we probably agree on more than what we disagree. Do you like ice cream?

"Do you like ice cream?"
I came across these match books while looking for something else. No tax stamp but neat matches.




For your listening pleasure. Your Loving Has Made Me Bananas or "Close Cover Before Striking."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh5oaxyM ...

Love the link to that song Vince, lots of fun!! The decorated matches are lots of fun but be really careful how you store them. I might even store them in a tin box of some kind. Some of the older matches, if I remember right, become a bit unstable as they age. (EDIT: Just as we do!!!)
This has been discussed at least once before but I can't remember where. I have a fairly large collection of local match book covers for local businesses from the 1930's to 1950's. About half of them have a small round double circle with "Excise revenue paid" in the outside and "1/5 cent" in the middle. Does anyone know what kind of value (minimal probably) and whether there is a catalog anywhere for them. There is a mention of them in van Dam's revenue catalogue for Canada but nothing specific. I probably have at least 100 of these cool little collectibles but know very little about them. Are there any serious collectors in our group?
Edit: I'll post a scan of a couple after the weekend.

re: Match Revenue tax
@Harvey
Are the matches still inside?
re: Match Revenue tax
No, they are removed for safety reasons! If it is a box of matches the matches are removed and the box is flattened. If it is a book of matches the staple is removed and the matches are disposed of and the booklet is displayed flattened. There are special album pages designed for this sort of thing. I can't post a scan yet but here's a link to show the match books! https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/ ...
There are many people who collect match book covers.

re: Match Revenue tax
@Harvey
Sounds like a HOT collection!
re: Match Revenue tax
It seems like a fairly common price for these on E-Bay is somewhere around $10 CD which seems a bit crazy to me. I'm also not sure how you would collect these, every restaurant would have had one so there would be a huge number of them. My collection is mostly local with some exceptions. You could also do a military collection since most ships issued their own. Halifax was a big naval area during WWII so I have several of those. Without appearing to be a misogynist girly ones were also very popular and many businesses went that route. You also get really interesting animal versions, for example Black Horse beer. I've added very little to what I have since I bought it as a ready made collection many years ago. As 1899 says, it really is a hot collectible and seems to be picking up steam as smoking becomes less popular, which sounds a bit odd. At the beginning of the week I'll post a couple pages and maybe it might turn some of you onto a new collectible, it sort of is stamp related because of the revenue tax aspect!
re: Match Revenue tax
Here's two random pages from my match book collection. Most are NS but a few are from the rest of Canada. You'll note that many of them have the revenue tax double circle! I've added a bit to the collection over the years but it's mostly as I picked it up about 20 years ago. There are about 30 double sided pages. I seem to remember paying about $100 for the collection which seemed at the time to be a lot! Most of these businesses would be long gone. This takes us back to the time when almost everyone smoked and items like this were free in almost every business, especially restaurants. A collection like this keeps the history of the area alive a bit. Most of the collection is from the 1940's and 1950's. Giveaways like this have disappeared now, I think, but I have a small collection separate from these that my wife and I accumulated 30 - 40 years ago picking up one at every restaurant we ate at.



re: Match Revenue tax
That's a great collection Harvey. Matchbooks are an awesome thing to collect. There was a time when almost everyone smoked (needed matches) and almost every business printed matchbooks as advertisement. There are people from very small towns that will pay $10-$15 for a matchbook from a long shuttered diner or bar. There might be some sleepers in that collection that would bring a few bucks on eBay.
re: Match Revenue tax
The ones I really like are the ones issued by the Canadian naval vessels in WWII. Halifax was a major port at the time and all ships stopped there and many of the convoys crossing the Atlantic started there. I have a douzen or so of these and have always meant to do some research on what happened to the various ships. There is amazing history in this stuff and I would love to find a local collector to pass it on to. I see some of these selling on E-Bay for large amounts. I remember years ago seeing the Massey Harris (later to turn into Massey Ferguson) one selling for about $50, amazing! I've always had an interest in horses and have an interesting one with Black Horse on the front, probably for Black Horse beer. I've been tempted to work on expanding the collection but stamps seem to take all my extra time and $$$$. Thanks for showing an interest Ernie, we would probably disagree on many things but not on matters involving good taste!

re: Match Revenue tax
Harvey, we probably agree on more than what we disagree. Do you like ice cream?
re: Match Revenue tax
"Do you like ice cream?"

re: Match Revenue tax
I came across these match books while looking for something else. No tax stamp but neat matches.




For your listening pleasure. Your Loving Has Made Me Bananas or "Close Cover Before Striking."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh5oaxyM ...
re: Match Revenue tax
Love the link to that song Vince, lots of fun!! The decorated matches are lots of fun but be really careful how you store them. I might even store them in a tin box of some kind. Some of the older matches, if I remember right, become a bit unstable as they age. (EDIT: Just as we do!!!)