MATCH BOOK COLLECTORS HOPE CONVENTION IGNITES INTEREST

MATCH BOOK COLLECTORS HOPE CONVENTION IGNITES INTEREST

LOWELL, Mass. (Wireless Flash) -- Match book collectors from around the world hope their upcoming convention will ignite interest in their hobby. Nearly 400 card-carrying matchbook collectors will attend the 60th Annual Convention of the Rathkamp Matchbook Society starting Sunday (Aug. 6) in Lowell, Massachusetts. Event organizer Jean Walsh says the popularity of cigarette lighters and a decline in souvenir matchbooks are causing prices to heat up -- and she should know. She owns more than 50,000 matchbooks herself, including one of the world's largest collections of Sheraton Hotel matchbooks.