{"id":1805,"date":"2025-11-23T07:21:38","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T07:21:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/?p=1805"},"modified":"2026-05-28T07:05:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:05:44","slug":"on-line-exhibitor-alan-downer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/2025\/11\/23\/on-line-exhibitor-alan-downer\/","title":{"rendered":"Alan Downer (UK)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Exhibits<\/strong> : Italian Match Industry<\/a>, Match Types<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Inspired by a friend who had just started to collect matchboxes, my collection started on the 7th<\/sup> April 1966, at the age of 14.<\/p>\n

The initial collection, included matchboxes and cigarette packets. However, I soon decided to concentrate on matchboxes. Not only complete matchboxes, also the labels, bookmatch covers, match hardware, in fact any item connected to the match industry. My collection still remains a general collection, although I have a special interest in a number of subjects. These include Spanish (1840s-1950s), labels marked Foreign Made, and the brand Swan Vestas. I also have a deep interest in the older issues of countries such as Mexico, France, Italy, Cuba, and some Central & South American countries, as well as the older British matchboxes and labels.<\/p>\n

In 1972, as part of my mechanical engineering studies at college, I was required to give a lecture to the other students. The research for this led to the discovery of the existence of the \u201cBritish Matchbox Label & Booklet Society\u201d (BML&BS), now known as the \u201cBritish Matchbox Label & Bookmatch Society\u201d, through two books written by Joan Rendell. I joined the BML&BS in October 1972 and have remained a member ever since.<\/p>\n

My interest in phillumeny has allowed me to see some impressive collections by visiting many fellow collectors and attending meetings in a number of countries in Europe. This has enriched my life and I have gained many friends directly because of this hobby.<\/p>\n

I have been part of the committee of the BML&BS since 1995, and from October 2006 I have been the Editor of the \u201cMatch Label News\u201d, their magazine<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/strong><\/a> to return to the Exhibition Catalogue.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exhibits : Italian Match Industry, Match Types Inspired by a friend who had just started to collect matchboxes, my collection started on the 7th April 1966, at the age of 14. The initial collection, included matchboxes and cigarette packets. However, I soon decided to concentrate on matchboxes. Not only complete matchboxes, also the labels, bookmatch […] Read more<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-line-exhibitor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1805"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4927,"href":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805\/revisions\/4927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phillumeny.com\/johnwalker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}