Stefan Joset (Switzerland) – John Walker, inventor of the Friction Match

Exhibit : Swiss Match Industry

My name is Stefan Joset, I am 65 years old and already retired. I live in Switzerland in a village near Basel, where I grew up. I have been a collector for as long as I can remember. It started with postage stamps, collected all advertising art from banana labels to beer mats and over the years it has all taken up way too much space. That’s why I reduced my collections and now specialize only in Swiss matchbooks, Swiss chocolate wrappers and Liebig pictures (trade cards).

Here are a few examples of Liebig pictures and chocolate wrappers (more information on the chocolate wrappers can be found here).

Liebig card

Chocolate wrapper - Praline

Chocolate wrapper - Milch

Chocolate wrapper - Heritage

In my free time, I am still in charge of the Swiss Match Museum and mainly take care of sorting, archiving and cataloguing our collection and exhibits. In addition, I take care of the homepage and organize the international exhibition Phillonex every year.

I really like the variety and rich colours of the Swiss bookmatches, which are decorated with a local animal, the chamois. For decades, this trademark was emblazoned on the products of our then largest match factory in Switzerland.

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