Cards and Vintage Things: Yes, More Matchbooks

I couldn't resist pulling the trigger on another cheap matchbook lot. 50 matchbooks for just over a quarter per.

Part of the reason for grabbing this lot was two more '34 Diamond Match cards. (Yes, they can be called cards). Baxter Jordan was .300 hitting first baseman with no power, at a time when first base was increasingly becoming a power position, so he only lasted a few years in the league. Jesse Haines, however, is my second Diamond Match HOFer (and my oldest). This is my first card of a player born in the nineteenth century (1893) and who debuted over 100 years ago (1918). Haines was the ace of the Cardinals staff in the 1920s and early 1930s. He was 40 years old when this card came out, but he still pitched another three years and this isn't even his "sunset card" (he's in the 1936 World Wide Gum) set.

 The other grabber for me was a 7-Up matchbook with "The Uncola" logo. Goes well with the other 7-Up matchbooks I have.

 Here's most of the rest of the lot. Heavy on hotels and heavy on Reno and the San Francisco/San Jose/Oakland area.

 A MetLife matchbook with the original MetLife building, and a '38 Studebaker matchbook, are two highlights.

 Diamond Match didn't just do baseball cards. An Olympic swimmer, Larry "Buster" Crabbe was famous for playing Tarzan, Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon (though he not done either space hero yet when this was printed). Myrna Loy was Nora in several Thin Man movies (the first is referenced on the back). John Howard never became a big star but had a long Hollywood career. A decade after this matchbook was printed he served as a Naval Lieutenant during World War II, earning the Navy Cross for his acts of valor. I am in no rush to get rid of these, but they don't fit well into my collection and I would be fine to trade these for vintage baseball cards or something else interesting.