bulletin - matchacquaint yourself with the greek alphabet, though, if you‟re going to make heads...

This is one of my own categories, especially since I‟ve taught Literature for years and years. I like to see

all those characters right there on the very matchcovers that comprise my hobby. I extend the category to

include Literary places (such as Shangra-La) and Literary objects (such as Excalibur). It‟s all one and the

same to me. It‟s kind of a whimsical topic, and that just adds to its allure.

Currently, I have some 600 such covers...and I‟m always looking!

by

Mike Prero

BULLETIN

PRESIDENT TREASURER EDITOR

John Bachochin Loren Moore Mike Prero

15731 S. 4210 Rd., POB 1181 12659 Eckard Way

Claremore, OK 74017 Roseville, CA 95678 Auburn,CA 95603

918-342-0710 916-783-6822 530-906-4705

No. 342 ALL DUES DUE APRIL 1st July 2013

No. 342 SIERRA-DIABLO BULLETIN-July 2013


Blackjack

Well, it‟s July...and what do we invariably think of when it turns to July?...ol‟ Blackjack Pershing, of

course, since it was in May (!), back in 1917, that he was named commander of the American

Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.), as Americans prepared to head for France during World War I (although

somewhat belatedly, since the war had already been going on for some three years).

He was John J. Pershing, born in Linn Co., Missouri, in 1860; he graduated West Point in 1886; and by

the beginning of World War I he had already made a name for himself in the military and had quite a career

while he was at it. A calvary officer, Pershing rode in campaigns against the Indian chief Geronimo in 1886

and against the Sioux during 1890-1891. After the latter campaign, he was an instructor in military tactics

at the University of Nebraska from 1891-1895. While there, he took the opportunity to earn himself a law

degree in 1893. From 1897-1898, he was back at West Point; this time as an instructor.

But Pershing wasn‟t destined to serve out his career in the classroom. In 1898, America found itself at

war with Spain, or, more accurately, Spain found itself at war with America. Pershing served with

distinction. From 1899-1903, Pershing served in the Philippines, gaining national fame as he commanded

the campaign against the Moro rebels.

In 1905, he was an American military attache in the Russo-Japanese War and was promoted to brigadier

general in 1906. Twice (1906 and 1909) he returned to the Philippines to further deal with the Moro,

defeating them in 1913. In 1915, he suffered a devastating defeat, albeit not on the battlefield—his wife and

three daughters perished in a fire at their home in San Francisco.

But Pershing carried on. It was Pershing who led the much-publicized but

unsuccessful punitive expedition (1916-1917) against Pancho Villa in Mexico.

When the United States finally entered World War I in 1917, Pershing was at the

head of the American forces. It was his talent for organization that was largely

responsible for the molding of hastily trained American troops into well-integrated

combat units, and it was Pershing that insisted on the Americans constituting a

separate force under his own command. After the Great War, Pershing was

promoted to permanent General of the Armies of the United States. From 1921-

1924, he was Chief of Staff. He retired in 1924. Before dying in 1948, Pershing

wrote two books about his experiences in the War.

Pershing, of course, is only one of many famous American generals, from George

Washington through Stonewall Jackson to Colin Powell. Wouldn‟t a collection of

American generals be a novel idea? This might be a very interesting category for

those who love history, as I do. I happened to find the Pershing cover pictured here

in my VIP/Personality collection, but other covers of generals are out there; hotel

collectors, for example, know that there are lots of Washingtons, Grants, and Lees.

There are a number of store sets that would be appropriate covers, as well. A challenging idea!

Actually, I don‟t know anyone who collects Generals...but I think I just talked

myself into it!


AUSTRALIA:

Australian Match Cover Collectors Society

c/o Mr. D. Squires

3 Milford Place, Bundoora, Victoria 3083

Australia

Sydney Phillumenist Club

c/o Mrs. D. V. Wiles

6 Rundle St., Granville, NSW 2142

Australia

FRANCE:

Assoc. Vitolphilique et Philumenique Francaise

c/o Mr. M. Krier, 5 Rue Ehrhardt

67300 Schiltigheim

France

GERMANY:

Phillumenistische Geselleschaft e. V

Postfach 200118

45757 Marl

Germany

HONG KONG:

Chinese Phillumenic Society

c/o C. W. Hu

Box 60160, Tsat Tsz Mui P.O.

Hong Kong

MALTA:

Hobbies Society (Phillumenist Division)

102 Our Lady of Sorrows St., Hamrun

Malta

NETHERLANDS:

S.G.D. Gray Lucifersetit Effen

c/o Leo Temminck

Het Zwanevlot 174, 7206 CJ Zutphen

Netherlands

Updated Listing of Foreign Clubs

[some of these are admittedly „ify‟]

PORTUGAL:

Assoc. Port. Filumeniso

Rua Formosa 400-2a, 4000 Porto

Portugal

ROMANIA:

Gruparea Filumenistilor din Romania

c/o Mr. Zamfir Pop

Str Avram Lancu nr 53, Turda RO-3350

Romania

RUSSIA:

Rad Club of Phillumeny Leningrad

c/o Mr. Andrew Petrov

Postbox 13, SU-197136 St. Petersburg

Russia

SLOVAKIA:

Slovensky Filumenisticy Zvaz

c/o Dr. Ivan Hodza

Secretary Slovak Union of Phillumeny

816-32 Bratislava

Slovak Republic

Slovensky Filumenisti

Bratislava Postova Schranka

899 10 Bratislava

Slovak Republic

SOUTH AFRICA:

Protea Match Collectors Club of South Africa

PO Box 17630

Pretoria North 0116

South Africa

UNITED KINGDOM:

British Matchbox Label & Booklet Society

c/o Mr. A. Alderton

122 High St

Melbourn, Cambridgeshire SG8 6AL

Great Britain

(continued on p.8)


Collecting Fraternities

It‟s all Greek to me! And if you don‟t happen to be fluent in Greek, you‟re going to be at a distinct

disadvantage in this category....well, maybe it‟s not quite as bad as all that. You definitely will need to

acquaint yourself with the Greek alphabet, though, if you‟re going to make heads or tails of Fraternity

covers.

Why are American fraternities named with Greek letters, anyway? It‟s not clear why, but, since the

Greeks have always been recognized as the “brains” of the Ancient World, it‟s likely that this association

with academia was carried over to these collegiate associations. After all, the Ancient Greeks could boast

of having invented Drama, Geography, History, and a number of hard core sciences. They were the first

people to be really curious about the world around them, and they weren‟t satisfied with the standard

answers given by shamans, priests, and other religious specialists. Their resulting contributions in

Philosophy, Mathematics, Astronomy, Physics, Literature and the like are legend. So, perhaps it‟s not so

unlikely that students in a different time, in a different part of the world, and in a different culture would

want to share in that awesome aura. Thus, fraternities are usually named by two or three Greek letters and

are also known as “Greek-Letter Societies.” Women‟s Greek-Letter Societies are commonly called

“sororities.”

The oldest American fraternity is Phi Betta Kappa, founded in 1776 at William & Mary College,

Williamsburg, VA. It soon became a scholarship honor society. After 1830, the literary societies which

existed in many colleges were slowly supplanted by fraternities modeled on the three established at Union

College (1825-1827).

After 1870, many professional and honorary fraternities were established to give recognition to

scholarship in various fields. Some fraternities have only one local organization, or chapter; others are

nationally organized with chapters on a variety of different campuses.

If you have hopes of getting fraternity covers from all colleges, or even from all major colleges, you can

forget it. Fraternities are actually forbidden at some colleges because, on a philosophical level, they

represent secret societies, and, on a practical level, because of the defects in the fraternity system in

general. Over the years, for example, there have been a number of notable fraternity scandals involving

cheating, hazing initiations, and even deaths.

How many covers are out there? I couldn‟t even begin to give you a close estimate. I have some 120 in

my own collection, so that would seem to indicate that this is a small category rather than a major one,

such as Holiday Inns or Cameos. The oldest Fraternity cover I‟ve run across is from the 1930s, but there

should be earlier ones, in light of the long history of these organizations.

Although there are a variety of sizes to be seen, almost all of these covers are 20-strikes, and, admittedly,

rather plain-looking. Collectors hoping to organize these covers by campus quickly find that this is

impossible since few actually carry specific campus identification. That basically leaves only one logical

alternative: organizing alphabetically (“Alpha Chi Omega,” for example, coming before “Phi Alpha

Delta”).

There are a number of conjunctives to be found: Christmas covers, a few dated, and so forth, but the big

one is Crests. All, or most fraternities has official crests, although they may not be shown on every cover.

Thus, many fraternity covers sport very officious-looking crests, to the delight of crest collectors!


Virginia’s Monticello

Monticello is the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, who,

after inheriting quite a large amount of land from his father, started building Monticello when he was

twenty-six years old. Located just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, in the Piedmont region, the plantation

was originally 5,000 acres, with extensive cultivation of tobacco and mixed crops, with labor by slaves.

What started as a mainly tobacco plantation switched over to a wheat plantation later in Jefferson's life. At

Jefferson's direction, he was buried on the grounds, an area now designated as the Monticello Cemetery,

which is owned by the Monticello Association, a lineage society of his descendants through Martha

Wayles Skelton Jefferson.

The house, which Jefferson designed, was based on the neoclassical principles described in the books of

the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. He reworked it through much of his presidency to

include design elements popular in late eighteenth-century Europe. It contains many of his own design

solutions. The house is situated on the summit of an 850-foot (260 m)-high peak in the Southwest

Mountains south of the Rivanna Gap. Its name comes from the Italian "little mount." The plantation at full

operations included numerous outbuildings for specialized functions, a

nailery, and quarters for domestic slaves along Mulberry Row near the house;

gardens for flowers, produce, and Jefferson's experiments in plant breeding;

plus tobacco fields and mixed crops. Cabins for field slaves were located

further from the mansion.

After Jefferson's death, his daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph sold the

property. After other owners, in 1834 it was bought by Uriah P. Levy, a

commodore in the U.S. Navy, who admired Jefferson and spent his own

money to preserve the property. His nephew Jefferson Monroe Levy took over

the property in 1879; he also invested considerable money to restore and

preserve it. He held it until 1923, when he sold it to the Thomas Jefferson

Foundation, which operates it as a house museum and educational institution.

It has been designated a

National Historic Landmark.

In 1987, Monticello and the

nearby University of Virginia,

also designed by Jefferson,

were together designated a

UNESCO World Heritage

Site.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Monticello]

An American Tour:

71

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Monticello_2010-10-29.jpg


I n n , 2 3 0 C h e r r y S t . ,

Morgantown, PA 19543 (1-800-

339-0264). Rooms: $86.

Display awards. Club will pay

1/2 the banquet cost for

attendees who stay Friday &

Saturday nights.

SOUTHERN SWAPFEST

2014: March 18-22, 2014,

Hilton Orlando/Altamonte

Springs, FL. Rate: $79 per

night. Same activities as before

- 3 auctions, cigar box trading,

bingo, plenty of freebies,

Saturday banquet. Free hot

buffet breakfast for hotel guests.

Hotel has heated pool and

workout area for guest. Theme

will be „Golfing Fun in Florida‟.

AMCAL 2014: Next year's

AMCAL Convention will be

held--Thursday-Saturday, May

1st, 2nd, & 3rd at the Monrovia

DoubleTree Hotel (just as it was

in 2011). Lodging rates for the

DoubleTree and The Oak Tree

Inn will be announced soon (no

one can commit this early).

FMI: Chester or Cheryl Crill

([email protected])

New Roster

Available

T h e n e w 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4

membership roster is available

on the web site. You‟ll need to

contact the Ed. for the

password. If you want a hard

copy, contact Greg Lund, 7000

Rainswood Ct., Bethesda, MD

20817-2231 301-469-7125 (a

legal-sized SASE would be

nice)

Ads

WANT TO BUY: Looking for:

The matchcover in yellow, Radio

Attractions Inc presents Sax

Rohmers The Shadow of Fu

Manchu. One of these was in the

recent club auction. Who has one

or two? Lloyd Spivey, 1203

Charlotte Ln., Hartford, KY

42347 wkloradio@ yahoo.com

BANKS! I‟ve got tons to trade

for your 20-strike Hotel/Motel/

Restaurant covers. Mike Prero,

12659 Eckard Way, Auburn, CA

95603 [email protected]

FANCIES! I‟ll trade mine for

your Xmas, Girlies, Dated,

Recommended by Duncan

Hines , Lion 30 -ST IC K,

Trucking, Military, Fraternals,

and more. Mike Prero, 12659

Eckard Way, Auburn, CA 95603

[email protected]

Coming Up

RMS CONVENTION 2013: August 18-24, in Erlanger, KY.

Convention Chairpersons: Pat

Mains, 105 Roger Lane,

Florence, KY 41042-2334 (859-

525-0588); Bob Borton, 2583

Wexford Rd., Columbus, OH

43221-3215 (614-486-3964);

Betsy Spoff, 503 Underbrook

Ct., Westerville, OH 43081 (614

-846-5728). See Convention

Central on RMS web site for all

the latest details, names, and

places. Make your plans now!

K E Y S T O N E / L E H I G H

V A L L E Y S W A P F E S T : October 23-27, 2013. Holiday

Preliminary

AMCAL 2014

Information

Next year's AMCAL Conven-

tion (sponsored by the Asso-

ciated Matchcover Clubs of

California will be held--

Thursday-Saturday, May 1st,

2nd, & 3rd at the Monrovia

DoubleTree Hotel (just as it was

in 2011).

Lodging rates for the

DoubleTree and The Oak Tree

Inn will be announced soon (no

one can commit this early).

If you have any questions please

contact Chester or Cheryl Crill

([email protected])

A full schedule will be

announced soon. Display

Categories are as follows:

A M C A L A W A R D S - -

Best Single Display (1st, 2nd, &

3rd)

Best Set Display (1st, 2nd, &

3rd)

Best California Display (1st,

2nd, & 3rd)

Best Tropical Display (1st, 2nd,

& 3rd)

BEST OF SHOW (People's

Choice) (1st, with 2 runners up)

C L U B A W A R D S - -

Angelus, Best Combo Display

( 1 s t , 2 n d , & 3 r d )

San Diego, Most Unusual Group

Display (1st only)

Sierra Diablo, Best Small

Category (1st from SD, 2nd &

3rd from AMCAL)


Replace with advertising text

Company Name

COMING

UP

Aug:“Historical Characters”

Sep: “Military Logos”

Oct: “Law of Gravity”

SIERRA-DIABLO...we’re

the hottest club in the

hobby!

....July Auction

Ohhhh! Lots of good items...as

usual. We‟ve got quality; we‟ve got

old; we‟ve got interesting!

http://matchcover.org/sierra

And, don‟t forget...we will again

have free postage for six of our

members who are successful in the

club auction.

Happy Birthday!

Eggleston, Kay......................7-1

Hothan, Mike........................7-1

Nichols, John........................7-2

Hofacker, Gayle..................7-13

Leckie, Mike.......................7-13

Schwimmer, Mike...............7-14

Norton, DJ...........................7-16

Manwaring, Art...................7-18

Nelson, Ron........................7-19

Kennaday, Dave..................7-23

Pelletier, Claude..................7-23

Dixon, Barbara....................7-29

Hollmann, Helen.................7-31

Hales, James.........................8-3

Eberhart, Charles..................8-6

Waite, Randy........................8-8

Aji, Pete................................8-9

Rowe, Terry........................8-12

Israel, Marty........................8-15

Lund, Greg..........................8-22

Evans, Bill...........................8-24

Prescott, Bill.......................8-28

The Sierra-Diablo Bulletin is a

publication of the Sierra-Diablo

Matchcover Club. Deadline for all

submissions is 2 weeks before the

issue month. Any information

herein may be reproduced with

appropriate credit line. Dues of $5

(e-bulletin); or $10 hard copy

(individual), $15 (family), $15

(Canada/Mexico) or $20 (outside

N. America) are payable to the

Sierra-Diablo Matchcover Club, c/

o Loren Moore, POB 1181,

Roseville, CA 95678

Visit the Sierra-Diablo Web Site

at: http://www.matchcover.org/

sierra. You can reach the Ed. on

line at [email protected] for

h e lp wi th Bu l l e t in /h obby

questions, concerns or problems.

Gosport Phillumenists Club

c/o Mr. B. Furlong

69 Montgomery Rd.

Gosport, Hampshire PO13 0UZ

Great Britain

Medway and North Kent

Phillumenist Club

c/o Ms. C. E. Homersham

Brigadoon, The Street, Ulcombe

Maidstone, Kent ME17 1DX

Great Britain

North Western Phillumenists

c/o Mr. C. J. Russell

209 Windleshaw Rd.

St. Helens, Mereyside WA10

6TN

Great Britain

ALL WINNERS RECEIVE

PRIZE RIBBONS & CASH

We've chosen to return to the

DoubleTree for many reasons. If

you were there in 2011, you

already know. No parking

issues, a beautiful venue, tons

of restaurants within walking

distance, & plenty of interesting

attractions & shopping close by.

If you're able to spend another

day in the area there's a great

Flea Market at Pasadena City

College on Sunday--(our

personal favorite). [Thanks to

Cheryl Crill for this info]

________________

Foreign Clubs (con‟t from p. 4)

July’s Smile Courtesy of

Loren Moore, CA

bulletin - matchacquaint yourself with the greek alphabet, though, if you‟re going to make heads...

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