Except for a few feature and printed stick matchbooks, all the matchcover images here are from flattened (matches removed) matchcovers. Only matchcovers that are 40-strikers and smaller are considered for this database.
Any such matchcover, regardless of its business or relevance to road travelers, that explicitly states that the enterprise itself was located on US Highway 66 (“Route 66”) will be included. (The number “66” must be printed on the matchcover.) Traveler-oriented businesses, like motels, restaurants and gas stations are the most interesting and relevant to Route 66 fans. But you will also find businesses that are car dealers, moving companies, golf courses, etc., that were also located on Highway 66 even though they are not traveler-oriented and likely, not so interesting. Also if a business is slightly off of US Highway 66 and is a traveler-oriented business (most likely lodging) and the matchcover specifically references US Highway 66 in text we will also include it (for example, a motel that the matchcover notes was “1/4 Mile North of US 66”). But if the business was not on US Highway 66 but there is a locating map printed on the matchcover that shows US Highway 66 nearby or a mileage chart printed inside that shows nearby US Highway 66, we will not include that matchcover in this collection. So for a business not on 66 a text reference to US Highway 66 allows it to be included here but just a map that shows US Highway 66 close does not. (That said, there are a few businesses for which the matchcover states that the business was on Route 66 but the maps shows them to be slightly off 66. In this case we do include the matchcover image. See Mickey Mantle’s Holiday Inn or Bob Cummings’ Motor Hotel in Joplin for example.)
For matchcovers from businesses where the matchcover does not say “66” on it anywhere, we only include them if the business is “traveler-oriented” and the era of the matchcover appears consistent with the commissioned or active era of Route 66. “Traveler-oriented” clearly includes lodging, food or gasoline or auto repairs. We are also including bars and taverns and general stores or grocery stores for now too. Many businesses printed a street address on their matchcover which is a 66 address but sometimes validation is provided by a postcard or some other source (city or telephone directory) or other internet reference.
There are few rear strike matchcovers in this Route 66 database. By federal law front strike matchbooks could not be manufactured after 1972 although all front strike matchbooks in manufacturers’ inventory or in the hands of the businesses could be furnished to the public after that time. When we include a rear strike matchcover image we strongly prefer that it be from a business that we know was on Route 66 during that active commissioned era. One validation of that is to also have a front strike matchcover from the same business but other sources can be helpful too. We are not including clearly modern (say, last 40 years) matchcovers from businesses that began after the decommissioned era of Route 66.
We are including matchcovers from a few important entities that were commonly associated with Route 66 but were actually located a bit off of the highway. These include natural wonders like Meramec Caverns, Onondaga Cave and Meteor Crater. We also include hotels like the Weatherford and Monte Vista in Flagstaff and the St. James and Lorraine in Sapulpa all of which were actually one block off Route 66, although some matchcovers imply that they were on Route 66.
Now having said that, some matchcover images are included that are from traveler-oriented businesses but the cover does not have an address printed on it and we can find no information from any other source that validates the business location. But they are from very small towns and we believe that the particular business would very likely be on Highway 66 as it was the main highway through that town but we can not prove it now. So there are many of these matchcover images that in one sense are kind of “iffy” but statistically speaking were very likely on Route 66.
Matchcovers that have the same identical artwork but the colors are different are considered “identical” and we limit ourselves to only one example in the database, not all the color combinations. But if the artwork is distinct in some appreciable way, like a different stock cut on the rear cover, or a “girlie” or “safety” illustration, the different matchcovers will be included. But sometimes the distinction is much more subtle. Look for different telephone numbers, different manumarks, or slightly different wording somewhere within the matchcover artwork. If the artwork is the same but the only variation is a slightly-different typeface or line spacing from what we already have, then we do not usually include that too-much-similar matchcover.