They often have "historical" information on them...addresses & phone numbers of course, but also owners names, games that are offered, etc.
They often have great artwork, especially the feature matchbooks
You can frequently find them at very affordable (read "cheap" ) prices!
Like Don, we prefer full matchbooks...and I'll settle for partial matchbooks, if I have to. If we have multiples of the same book, I'll shuck one for the binder. We also have covers without the matches.
For mailing/shipping, I've read that you should wrap in foil before sending them.
A few methods for displaying are below
For covers only, I used my tried-and-true method of nylon "invisible" thread, stitched to foam-core board .
For full books, you can also stitch them to foam-core board in a shadowbox frame ...just a small one here, with a couple of swizzle sticks
And they make display frames for matchbooks, with cardboard strips that you kind of fold the matchbook over the strip
For those special matches, you can get a display box (I think they're called Riker mount boxes?) with the batting in the box, and display them that way...I have several of our feature matchbooks in one...
Not a good picture, I cropped it from another shot...but maybe you can get the idea
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