 |
Sağlamtimur Haluk 057 |
Greetings from Türkiye, my name is Haluk Sağlamtimur. I work as a Prof. Dr. in the
Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Letters, Izmir-Ege University. I have been collecting
matchboxes for about 50 years. I have about 27,000 matchboxes from Türkiye and other
countries in my collection. I started this collection when I was 5-6 years old. This is my sixth
time participating in this exhibition. I would like to thank the management of the Swiss Match
Museum and Stefan for organizing these special exhibitions and bringing match collectors
together.
This year, I am participating in the exhibition with matchboxes that hold a very special
meaning for me, and I would like to share their story with you. Dr. Duru Malyalı learned that
his daughter was diagnosed with Thalassemia shortly after her birth and believed that society
needed to be aware of this disease. To this end, he founded TADAD - The Thalassemia
Solidarity Association. In 1992, he had a series of matchboxes printed and distributed to
convey public health messages about preventing this disease. There were ten different
messages printed on the matchboxes. Subsequently, Malazlar Match Factory, one of Turkey's
major match manufacturers, decided to print messages about the disease on their matchboxes.
Across Turkey, people began learning about this condition through these matchboxes, and
many families received assistance through the association. These matchboxes were printed in
two different colors: red and blue. The red boxes were printed personally by Dr. Duru
Malyalı, while the blue ones were printed by the Malazlar Match Factory. These matchboxes
are valuable pieces that Dr. Duru generously gifted to my collection.
Haluk Sağlamtimur
haluksaglamtimur@gmail.com
|
