Close Cover Before Striking: The Golden Age of Matchcover Art

"Your Red Scarf Matches Your Eyes, You Close Your Cover Before Striking, and Loving You Has Made Me Bananas...." For the graphic artist or just fans of the visually arresting, there are some supurb images in this publication. Chronicle Books put out a book two or three years later called MATCHBOOK ART by Yosh Kashiwabara which is a nice compliment to this Abbeville Book. The Steel/Heimann book was published at a time when Abbeville was putting out a fun, funky series on American Pop culture - John Margolies MINATURE GOLF book, and the Dyer/Spark book FIT TO BE TIED: VINTAGE TIES OF THE FORTIES & EARLY FIFTIES, all of which are useful references for those in the (or into) arts/applied arts field/popular culture/or mid-century americana. The breakdown of categories in CLOSE COVER BEFORE STRIKING works well, the text (which is sparse) is very readable, and the page layout is attractive. I'd say that it would be a fine addtion to any bookshelf.