US Stamps
The wide world of philatelic matchbook covers: U.S. Stamp Notes

By John M. Hotchner
I discovered that there are a lot more philatelic matchbook covers than I expected when I presented the three examples I had in my collection in a 2015 U.S. Stamp Notes column.
Since then, Linn’s readers have reported another 30 major varieties, and several of them have different subtypes.
Counting subtypes, there are almost 100 different matchbook covers with stamp advertising.
Connect with Linn’s Stamp News:
Sign up for our newsletter
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
All of the major varieties were used to advertise approval services.
The question, now that matchbook advertising is no longer reaching mass audiences, is how do approval companies reach the folks who might be candidates to begin collecting?
And if they are not able to do this, is this another reason why stamp collecting is continuing to lose market share?
My thanks to readers R.H. Joy, Mark Sommer and Carl Troy who reported examples to add to my list.
MORE RELATED ARTICLES
Community Comments
Headlines
-
World Stamps
May 20, 2022, 4 PMMay 23 issue date for Ukraine’s second Russian warship pair
-
World Stamps
May 20, 2022, 12 PMCanada Post seeks to raise awareness with set of five Endangered Whales stamps
-
US Stamps
May 19, 2022, 7 PMSesame Street, other U.S. stamps to be withdrawn from sale June 30
-
US Stamps
May 19, 2022, 7 PMInside Linn’s: A dollar-sign case of mistaken identity