A phillumenist...a person who follows phillumeny...in simple terms, a matchbox label collector.

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The matchbox has become somewhat obsolete, in these days of 'instant lighters' of the electronic type, which followed on the heels of gas lighters and the electric ignition cooktops. One click and voila, the cooking gas is on. Of course, I( as do most people who do pooja with agarbattis) still need a matchbox to light the agarbattis.(Incense sticks) for the pooja- hate to light those with a lighter that gives off a flame that could singe the eyebrows, right?
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Dad has preserved all the labels from those days. Some samples:



So, let's see now. as I said, the hobby began back when I was in school. Matchboxes used to be a lot of fun in those days. Dad had also brought back a lot of labels in 'mint'(Brand new) condition from his Russia trip then, and those were really what made me get interested in the hobby. ('Every other person collects stamps and coins, I thought- so, I needed to do something different.:))
I'd go around the shops in our area, checking out their matchboxes- some of our regular shopkeepers would give me a matchbox just like that, and others would sell a single box, instead of insisting on buying a whole pack of 10. As the hobby picked up, I'd also keep my eyes on the streets, looking for new labels. We'd gone to Delhi in the winter months of November/Dec, I recall(Obviously- school hols used to be during Diwali only...haha..)..and, I'd take my lil(Well, lil at that time) brother with me around Sadhna Enclave(where my cousins still stay), and do a lot of prospecting around for oil(ROFL- I deliberately said that to see if you're awake...the word is 'labels' not 'oil') and we would get a tidy collection every other day.


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I also wrote to the addresses mentioned on the label factories, like 'Muthuramalingam Matchworks, Sattur', the address mentioned on one of the labels in the pics above. I'd write' Dear Sir, I'm a collector of matchbox labels(I don't think the word phillumeny was invented then, was it?). I've collected some labels from your esteemed factory also, but the problem is that they get torn when trying to remove them from the box(which was true- since even the tedious process of putting a label with it's glue and cardboard below in water, would not succeed many times). I'd be delighted if you could send me some spare labels from your factory'.....and, guess what? Some of them actually replied, some just sent dozens of labels across, one guy actually wrote on the back of the label that he was very glad to receive my letter, and some labels were enclosed and also blessed me.🙂 I'm sure that label's also still with Dad, as is the one with the person's head which looks the same in both directions, i.e. by tilting the label 180 degrees.
Over the last couple of years, we added greatly to the collection, courtesy of other hobbyists who want to sell or exchange them(ebay is one source).. and, it's not at all expensive, this hobby.


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Aren't these great? Wouldn't you love to begin a matchbox label collection, now?

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