[ Advertising ]. Monarch Match Company.

Monarch Match Company. The Finest in Book Match Advertising...printer’s salesman sample catalogue No. 362 and sales marketing book].

San Jose, CA: Monarch Match Co., [1959-1964]. First edition. OCLC lists five Monarch Match Co. catalogs, but none of this edition, and none so extensive. [Together with:] [Adverftising]. Book Matches. San Jose, CA: Monarch Match Co., [n.d,., early 1960s]. Quarto. 9 x 6 in. 4 pp.Printed in red, blue, and black. Text illustrations. Price charts. Five full- color sample matchbooks tipped in. Very mild rubbing to outer edges of front/back. Light wear to fold. Samples are incredibly bright and clean. Near fine ephemera, likely originally laid in to binder. With 121 color lithograph and color-printed matchbook covers. Color and metallic finish to many samples. All paper mounted, all samples paired with original mylar guards. Also containing clip art, text illustrations, tables, charts, and font samples. Mild scratching, dirt-soiling to binder exterior / interior. Very mild toning to edges of some white pages. Otherwise, pages and samples remarkably bright and intact. A near fine copy. Color-printed samples inserted on front cover, back cover, and spine. [1959-1964]. 21-ring binder with eight section dividers. [208] pp., erratically numbered, including pages number A + B (i.e. 24A-B). The last [10] pp are unnumbered. Item #17967

Founded in 1946 in San Jose, the Monarch Match Company’s reign lasted roughly twenty years (corresponding to the arc of the post-war boom in advertising and cigarette sales) before it was merged with Superior Match Company. Monarch/Superior ultimately closed in 1980 due to the introduction of disposable butane lighters. Nevertheless, Monarch is recognized by matchbook collectors as an important regional player, especially for its humorous “Hillbillies Series.”.

This catalogue is notable for its inclusion of the Ford Falcon (manufactured 1959-1970), whose popular design oriented successive Ford models for decades. Likewise represented here are Monarch’s “Famous Glamour Girls” — many of which were created by famed pin-up artist George Petty. Petty (1894 – 1975) was known primarily for his work with Esquire, and as a pioneer of the centerfold spread. Later, during WWII and the Korean War, American G.I.s would reproduce his work as fighter plane nose art (“Petty Girls”), thus contributing to Petty’s notoriety. Indeed, the present Monarch catalogue posits that the Glamour Girls are “probably the most famous Assortment in the entire Book Match field.”
In a similar vein, the catalogue also contains “Terry Cuts” and “Terry Slogans,” interchangeable catch-phrases and images of the scantily clad “Terry” character. “Our ‘Terry’ Cuts and Slogans are extremely popular with businesses which want to get a chuckle — attract attention— such as Taverns, Night Clubs, Dance Halls, Pools Halls, Bowling Alleys — just to mention a few.” Additional elements include instructions on arranging political copy, instructions on ordering, handling credit allowance, pitching customers, sleeves and mailers, etc. All in all, the present work is a beautifully preserved and comprehensive snapshot of the midcentury American psyche at the intersection of design and commerce.

Price: $1,250.00