BULLETIN - Rathkamp Matchcover Societymatchcover.org/sierra/Archives/2009/JUN.pdf · 2013. 9....

BULLETIN

PRESIDENT TREASURER MEM SECRETARY EDITOR

Loren Moore Jack Benbrook Janet Johnk Mike Prero

POB 1181 1328 E. Rosser St. 6 Truman Dr 12659 Eckard

Roseville, CA 95678 Prescott AZ 86301 Novato,CA 94947 Auburn,CA 95603

877-752-6247 928-772-3763 415-897-6724 530-885-3604

No. 293 June 2009

by

Mike Prero

Ohhhhh! It wasn‟t just another good one...It was an even better one! More trading! More auction lots!

More covers! It makes me thankful that I was ultimately willing to travel the long 14 miles to get there (!).

The weather was perfect (Of course! We‟re talking California here! California in the Spring!—sunny

and 70s...and remember, this was in the first week of April). I pulled into the Heritage Inn parking lot

(conveniently located right off the freeway), and I could see immediately that the omens were good (the

parking space right outside the meeting room doors was empty!)

I opened up the back of the truck and began offloading the seven big trays of covers I had brought for

trading and started setting up on one of the many tables in the spacious meeting room. At 8:30 in the

morning, only Ron Quint, CA, was there ahead of me. By 9:00 AM, several others had set up and that

much looked-forward to trading had begun in earnest. And from then to app. 1:00 PM, that‟s what I did—

trade! Oh, and I got a lot of great covers!

For those of you unlucky enough to have never attended a Sierra-Diablo swapfest, I should point out that

the trading here is really informal. As Chester Crill says every year, “This is all the stuff I brought up, and

I don‟t want to take any of it back home!”—And that‟s pretty much the philosophy in place at the

swapfest. For the most part, it‟s not, “John, I‟ve got 76 of yours here. See if you can find 76 of mine you

want.” Rather, it‟s “John, take whatever you need!”

I‟d also set up a Freebie table with a few thousand covers and full-books. Most of this was material that I

had purposely been setting aside for such during the year, but some was also donated material from

generous members earlier in the year. I always smile to see the astonishment from first-timers and drop-ins

at the ‟help yourself‟ atmosphere of the swapfest.

President Loren Moore and family supplied a two-day array of ongoing drinks and snacks (have to keep

up the energy, you know, with all that constant trading!). Poor Loren! He‟s always on the go during the

whole weekend, what with the setting up and auctions. He never gets the chance to sit down and trade

during the actual swapfest hours. I assume he makes his trades during the evenings and with the early

birds before the action really starts on Saturday and Sunday. But, if Loren‟s trading suffers, the rest of us

No. 293 SIERRA-DIABLO BULLETIN-June 2009

certainly prosper because of his untiring efforts! And, who, exactly, did prosper from all those efforts?...

Attending this year were, Ron Quint, CA; Janet and Duane Johnk, CA; myself, CA; Loren, Wendy,

Dustin, and Eric Moore, CA; Ron Dalton, CA; Deej Norton, CA; Tim Eagan, CA; George and Christine

Cosentini, CA; Jack and Alfie Benbrook, AZ; Chester Crill, CA; Raulin Mendonca, CA; Charlie Moore,

CA; Mike Schwimmer, MA; and miscellaneous drop-ins (thanks to the local ad Loren runs in the paper

prior to the swapfest).

I didn‟t hear anything negative during the two days I was at the swapfest, and everyone there certainly

seemed to have had a good and worthwhile time, but one of the niggling items that was of concern to at

least the club officers was that we‟re not getting anywhere near the attendance from Southern California

that we should be getting, so one of the things we‟re going to do in that area is run an ad in the AMCAL

program book, which leads my report, here, to the short business meeting that was held at the end of

Sunday‟s auctions.

And speaking of auctions! There were two, one Saturday and one Sunday, featuring a whopping total of

500 lots. Overall, the lot prices were quite low, so it was a buyer‟s paradise! The lots, themselves, varied

from single covers to albums to boxes of 1000+ covers. Some representative samples were: an album of

400+ Match Co‟s went for $27, 21 Full-length covers went for $2.50, 1000 struck 20‟s sold for $26, 4

Midgets went for $10, 8 Crowns went for a paltry $2, an album of 342 Foreign sold for $6, 1 album of 320

Canadian 30s was bought for $1!

The auctions were lengthy (because of so many lots) but went smoothly, with Deej recording all

individual results on his lap top, utilizing, once again, Loren‟s custom-made auction program. At the end

of the auction, practically before anyone even got up from their chairs, Deej was already printing out

everyone‟s itemized billings, for both sellers and buyers—making „check out‟ a breeze with basically no

waiting time at all. (Loren, it should be said, has offered that program to the other swapfests and

conventions for free—with no takers! What a disservice to auction attendees elsewhere!)

Details of the important decisions at the business meeting are discussed more fully on p. 7, but basically

it was decided to initiate a Sierra-Diablo store on our web site which would not only offer our great plastic

pages, but also cover sales. Also, it was decided, unanimously, 1) to invest in web advertising rather than

lower dues for our on-line members, and 2) to raise dues for hard-copy members from the present $10 to

$15, starting next April 1st.

You’re About To be Dropped From The Roster!

David Barbieri

Grace Bergman

Denis Bouchard

Jim Carroll

Pierre Dorval

Donald Ewart

Ronald Floyd

Dr Irwin Gross

David Hampton

Eugene Harris

Douglas Henley

Fred Houk

Kenneth Jackson

Brian Kelley

Robert Lamb, Jr

Louis Leonardo

Ruth Liebman

Ralph McDaniel

Michael Midda

Craig Neros

Bill Nye

Jack K. Paul

Bill Prescott

Ed Prestella

Edward Proctor

Mark Quilling

Duane W. Ready

Marilyn Reese

Gary Robbins

R.E. Robles

Douglas Shellum

Richard Singer

Frank Souto

Judi Stiles

Ray C. Sword

John Takahashi

Michael Tate

Michael Turrini

Tom Valachovic

Blane Walker

John Williams

Robert E. Wisniewski

Dues = $10 to Jack Ben-

brook,[email protected]

1328 E. Rosser Street,

Prescott, AZ 86301 928-

772-3763

mailto:[email protected]


Errors XII: A Final Salute to Errors!

You gotta love „em!

1. Top left - Severely miscut

2. Top right - Off-center printing. The grey, here, is out of

kilter.

3. Bottom 1st - Missing text (something obviously came

between the cover and the printer)

4. Bottom 2nd - Double striker

5. Bottom 3rd - Severely miscut so that the cover is now a

parallelogram rather than a rectangle. This cover is also

miscut in the usual sense, as well.

6. Bottom 4th - Here‟s an unusual type of over printing. The

foil used on the front panel has splattered onto the back

panel, which is what the smudge is on the left side of the

back panel.


Give Me Those Old Lions!

Here‟s yet another...dare I say.. „obscure‟...category that I‟m enamored with and that you may never have

given any consideration to—old Lion Match Co. covers. Immediately, though, one has to qualify just which

old Lion covers we‟re talking about, here. There were so many!—Old Lion Features, old Lion Safety Firsts,

and so on.

The ones I‟m focusing on are like the ones shown below. In non-technical terms, they‟re the old ones...but

they‟re not the really old ones. They‟re the sort of „in-between‟ covers. There, that helps. Doesn‟t it?

They‟re definitely old, but they‟re not as old as the Safety First covers and older than just about anything

else Lion came out with. Sooooooo, we‟re talking 1930s, maybe 1940s for the later ones. That‟s respectably

old! The manumark is distinctive, and that‟s how you single them out:

LION MATCH Co NEW YORK

[and the „o‟ is in the „C‟ in the „Co.‟]

Of course, given the age, these are all front-strike 20-strikes, but there is one more distinctive

characteristic to these covers. Typically, they‟re a couple of millimeters taller than an average cover. Not as

tall as a „Tall‟, or „XL‟, cover, but you‟d probably notice the difference if you tried to put them in most of

the old, slotted paper pages.

The real joy of a category this old is paging through your album and looking at all the bygone fashions,

the „quaint‟ gas stations, the (now) antique cars...and, then, certainly, there are all those old phone numbers.

[Ha! I just saw Loren‟s ears perk up!] There‟s no listing on these covers. I have app. 700.


Thieves Market

[I don‟t normally run articles an individual businesses, but I was immediately struck with interest when I

ran across this Matchorama, especially since I‟m already predisposed towards History. I‟d love to wander

around this store!]

“In 1952 The Thieves Market was born from the vision of Henry Cohen, a young entrepreneur. He came

to Washington DC with his young family determined to start his own Auction company and Antique busi-

ness.

From it's small beginnings in 1952, the Thieves Market had grown to be an area leader in the Auction-

eering of Antiques & Provider Estate Services. At one point the Market had expanded to over 100,000

feet, housing a mall of Antique Stores and The Thieves Market Auction Gallery which thousands Wash-

ingtonians so fondly remember. The Thieves Market Auction Sales, were a family event, held on every

major holiday. Fabulous food buffets & Antiques & Fine Art, too, were the only game in town back then.

Thousands attended, from destinations nationally and locally. It was a time of rare finds & discoveries un-

matched in the Washington D.C. area

By 1970, The Thieves Market Auctions were the "Talk of Washington" & Henry Cohen‟s dream had

been realized. The Washington Star & Post both heralded the Thieves Market with full page color cover

stories! Henry Cohen was recognized in national media as the founder of the nation‟s first antique mall

"Supermarket" in the country, a phenomenon!! The tradition continues today with the Thieves Market at-

tracting tens of thousands of visitors a year from local Antiques enthusiasts to the rich and famous. Our

Antiques Mall concept has been followed nationwide and there are malls in every city, but only one Origi-

nal Thieves Market Antiques.

Kaplan & Susan Cohen have been dedicated to nurturing

the Thieves Market Antiques Business full time, since its

founder‟s passing in 1980. After

25 years of mall operation, and as

a result of Marketing changes we

have re-organized, and no longer

run a mall. We still offer the ar-

eas finest Antiques and unique

Discoveries in a more intimate

setting, at our large upscale store

in Vienna, Virginia. Their now

adult children

assist in the

family busi-

ness.”

[http://

www.thieves

m a r k e t a n -

tiques.com/

history. html]


Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel

For over 43 years, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel has captured worldwide attention as a modern

engineering wonder and an important East Coast travel convenience. Crossing over and under open waters

where the Chesapeake Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean, the Bridge-Tunnel provides a direct link between

Southeastern Virginia and the Delmarva Peninsula (Delaware plus the Eastern Shore counties in Maryland

and Virginia), and cuts 95 miles from the journey between Virginia Beach and points north of

Wilmington, Delaware.

Following its opening on April 15, 1964, the Bridge-Tunnel was selected "One of the Seven Engineering

Wonders of the Modern World" in a worldwide competition that included more than one hundred major

projects. In addition, in 1965, it was distinguished as "The Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement"

by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

To date, over 95 million commercial and passenger vehicles have crossed the Bridge-Tunnel. In order to

meet future traffic demands and provide for a safer crossing, construction of a parallel crossing project

began in summer 1995, and opened to four-lane traffic on April 19, 1999. No less challenging than

construction of the original span, this project once again drew focus to a

remarkable achievement in engineering and construction.

[http://www.cbbt.com/history.html]

An American Tour:

33


going up, from $10 to $15. Dues

for on-line members will stay

the same, at $10. The reason for

this is, as any club will tell you,

producing and mailing a hard-

copy bulletin was already

expensive, and in the last

several years the costs have

gotten even more expensive

(i.e., postal rates going up again

just last month). We have not

raised our dues since 2001.

Also, I pointed out at the

meeting that at least some of our

hard-copy members were going

to see this as an effort to push

them out of the club in favor of

an all-internet membership. This

was discussed at some length,

and no one present wanted to

abandon those hard-copy

members. It was simply felt that

their dues would need to be

raised to cover the costs of the

bulletin that they receive in hard

-copy format. Dues for the on-

line members were not raised

because the cost of producing

their bulletin has actually

decreased drastically, being

only a small fraction of what it

costs to produce the hard-copy

bulletin.

Indeed, the cost of producing

a bulletin for our on-line

members is insignificant! So,

they might fairly ask why their

dues aren‟t going down! That

was also discussed, and the

almost unanimous feeling was

that that „extra‟ the club is

making on their dues should be

reinvested in advertising both

the club and the hobby at large.

In keeping with that, President

Ads

W E E K L Y O N - L I N E

AUCTION: 60 lots per week;

featured topic each week, but

always with good selection of

other categories. Runs Sunday-

Sunday. http://matchpro.org

Coming Up

U N I T E D E A S T E R N

SWAPFEST: Jun 17-20, 2009.

Plaza Hotel, Hagerstown, PA (1-

800-732-0906). Room: $89-

$118). Auctions, Awards

banquet, Dealers, Displays, Grab

tables, Free Chicken & Pizza

meal, and much more. FMI:

S t e l l a W i l l i a m s ,

[email protected] or 937-

890-8684 .

RMS CONVENTION 2009: Aug. 10-15, Plaza Hotel,

Hagerstown, MD, conveniently

located in the heart of the

beautiful Cumberland Valley at

Exit 5A off I-81, just one-half

mile north of I-70. 301-797-

2500/800-732-0906/e-mail :

[email protected]. Single

room: $89+tax; Suite: $118-

154+tax. Theme: South of

Mason-Dixon Line in 2009.

Important Business

Items!

At the end of April‟s Swapfest

there was a business meeting,

and a couple of major new items

were decided upon:

1. Beginning April 1st, 2010,

dues for hard-copy members are

Loren Moore is going to focus

on advertising on the net. The

rationale there was that the small

number of collectors who are

already in the hobby have had

more than ample time to be

„exposed‟ to Sierra-Diablo and

have already made the decision

to join or not to join. What we

should therefore focus on is

bringing new people into the

club, and therefore the hobby at

large.

2. It was also decided that we

would open a new „store‟ on our

web site. The store would not

only offer our plastic pages to

members but will also offer

covers for sale (to both members

and non-members)...but not in an

auction format. For each offered

lot, the asking price (from the

seller) would be stated, and it

would then be on a „take it or

leave it‟ basis. So, it would be

just like having a dealer‟s table

on-line. All the details have not

be worked out yet, but I would

assume that the club would get a

percentage of each sale.

It will take a couple of months

to set this up, but interested

sellers may now start sending in

their lots (single or multiple

covers) to Loren Moore. Be

certain to mark them “FOR THE

STORE” so they don‟t get

confused with regular bulletin

auction lots.

Lists

Do you maintain any lists? The

Ed. needs to hear from you,

please. Which list(s) and what


Replace with advertising text

Company Name

COMING

UP

Jul: ““Americana”

Aug: “In-Between Covers”

Sep: “Collecting Presidents”

SIERRA-DIABLO...we’re

the hottest club in the

hobby!

industry and, thus, within the

hobby.

Small categories, I think, are

even more of a reflection of each

collector‟s individual tastes and

background. Stella Williams

collects Roses, while I collect

A p p r o v e d b y D u n c a n

Hi n e s . . . Wh y? . . . O n l y t h e

individual collector knows.

Happy Birthday!

Des Granges, Carl.................6-1

Gordon, Philip.......................6-2

Dorval, Pierre........................6-3

Ewen, Doug.........................6-4

Liebman, Ruth......................6-4

Finkelstein, Evelyn...............6-6

Robins, Gary.........................6-6

Bell, Larry...........................6-09

Cahn, Alan..........................6-11

Henley, Doug......................6-12

Dawley, Helen....................6-18

Hampton, Dave...................6-20

Riches, Bonita.....................6-22

Hubbard, June.....................6-23

Goleman, Gerald.................6-25

Dargart, Larry.....................6-27

Bedra, Don..........................6-28

Benbrook, Jack.....................7-1

Eggleston, Kay......................7-1

Spangler, T.A........................7-5

Jackson, Ken.........................7-7

Meyer, Brian.........................7-9

Mitchell, James 'Mitch'.......7-10

Mason, Wilton....................7-13

Schwimmer, Mike...............7-14

Varille, George...................7-14

Cooke, Jenny.......................7-16

Nelson, Ron........................7-19

Kennaday, Dave..................7-23

Lauck, Richard....................7-26

Dixon, Barbara....................7-29

McMillan, Bob....................7-31

The Sierra-Diablo Bulletin is a

monthly publication of the Sierra-

Diablo Matchcover Club. Deadline

for all submissions is the 10th of

each month. Any information

herein may be reproduced with

appropriate credit line. Dues of

$10 (individual), $15 (family), $15

(Canada/Mexico) or $20 (outside

N. America) are payable to the

Sierra-Diablo Matchcover Club, c/

o Jack Benbrook, 1328 E. Rosser

St., Prescott, AZ 86301.

Visit theSierra-Diablo Web Site at:

http://www.matchcover.org/sierra

You can reach the Ed. on line at

[email protected] for help

with Bulletin/hobby questions,

concerns or problems.

Mil i t a ry, Shr ine r s , and

especially Navy Ships. She

a t tended many AMCAL

conventions and enjoyed

meeting matchcover friends. She

will certainly be missed.

Small Categories

Are Where It’s At?

It the latest RMS Insta-Poll

coming out in next month‟s

RMS Bulletin, collectors

definitely seem to be shifting

more towards small categories

and away from the larger, well-

known categories. There‟s a

fuller discussion of the why‟s in

that issue, but I take this as an

adjustment to the changed

circumstances within the

June’s Smile

are the current totals? I haven‟t

received updates on some for

several years.

Goldie Shine

Lone time member Goldie

Shine, CA, passed away

peacefully on April 16th. She

was soon to be 90 years old this

Fall. She was an avid collector

of Animals, Country Clubs,

BULLETIN - Rathkamp Matchcover Societymatchcover.org/sierra/Archives/2009/JUN.pdf · 2013. 9....

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