Tegestologists

With the evolution of industry by the 1960’s wood pulp beer mats and coasters could be produced in rolls and became a common feature in pubs across the Western world. The concept of bleaching the wood pulp allowed for a bright white surface on which to print the breweries names.

Thus coasters slowly became an item that could be collected like stamps or coins, as souvenirs of all the places that one has visited. A tegestologist is one who collects coasters, the word being descended from Latin ‘teges’ which refers to a mat or covering made of sedge or rushes.