Phillumeny (also known as phillumenism) is the hobby of collecting different match-related items: matchboxes, matchbox labels, matchbooks,

matchcover A matchbook is a small paperboard folder (known as a matchcover) enclosing a quantity of matches and having a coarse striking surface on the exterior. The folder is opened to access the matches, which are attached in a comb-like arrangement a ...

s, matchsafes, etc.

Matchbox

A matchbox is a box made of cardboard or thin wood and designed to hold matches. It usually has a coarse striking surface on one edge for lighting the matches contained inside.

Etymology

The word, derived from Greek phil- oving+ Latin lumen- ight was introduced by the British collector Marjorie S. Evans in 1943 (who later became president of the British Matchbox Label & Booklet Society, now renamed the British Matchbox Label and Bookmatch Society). A person who engages in phillumeny is a ''phillumenist''. These two forms have been adopted by many other languages, e.g., ''philuméniste'', ''fillumenista'', ''Filumenist'' and филуменист.

Phillumeny worldwide

Collecting of matchbox labels emerged together with matches. In some collections it is possible to find labels from chemical matches, produced from 1810 to 1815—long before the modern matches arrived. Quite often people who went abroad brought back matchboxes as souvenirs from other countries. After World War II a lot of match factories worked in close contact with local phillumenists, issuing special non-advertising sets. The hobby became especially widespread from the 1960s through the 1980s. Widespread introduction of bulky (for collectors) cardboard matchboxes with less distinct images on them, much poorer quality of print and, also some social phenomena, made this hobby (like many others, not connected with commerce) much less engaged.

Notable phillumenists

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, Teiichi Yoshizawa was listed in the

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

as the world's top phillumenist. In Portugal, Jose Manuel Pereira published a series of albums to catalog and display matchbox collections called "Phillalbum".

References

External links

{{Sister project links , commonscat=Matchboxes , b=no , s=no , n=no , q=no , v=no , wikt=
Historical Phillumeny
- Russian language website on the history of phillumeny.
British Matchbox Label and Bookmatch SocietyGlossary of phillumenyThe Home of PhillumenyRussian and Soviet matchlabelsMatchbook Traveler
- Lists restaurants that have souvenir matchbooks.
Rathkamp Matchcover Society
Collecting Packaging Matches (firelighting)