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In 1892 Joshua Pusey secured a patent
for the compact cardboard match, and
then sold it to the Diamond Match
Company. It took some time to catch on,
but matchbook advertising became one of
the most successful and cost efficient
adverting mediums of all time. Reaching
for a single matchbook given away to a
patron exposes the advertisement 20-40
times. Baseball was a popular theme to
attract customers to a product or
service.
This baseball Trivia matchbook does not feature advertising. Categorized
as Group I, covers with no advertising
issued in sets typically have a
particular topic. (i.e, baseball stars,
football stars) Issued to shopping
centers, or smoke shops in 1974, the
Ohio Blue Tip Trivia Matchbooks feature
about 67 different trivia questions.
Many categories covering; TV, radio,
music, history sports, and one baseball
question.
The front cover features a day-glow ballplayer design. The
"reverse-striker" side has the trivia
question: 'What 1950 baseball
team was known as "The Wiz Kids"?' The
inside cover reveals the "Answer:
Philadelphia Phillies #34" above the
matches. "Reverse Striker" refers to a
cover which has the striker on the back
panel rather than the top flap. The
design change came in 1973, when all
matchbooks were federally mandated to
have the strikers put on the back
panel, for safety. Thus, the industry
changed from "Front-Strikers" to
"Reverse-Strikers."
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