The history of japanese matchbox industry - All right reserved to the "Match World" virtual museum

 

Read more: http://www.match.or.jp/english/history/history01.html

How do you say Matchbox in your languages? A little box with so many names...

Allumettes, tændstikæske, pochette, publistar, match , bookmatch, matchbook, skillet, luces,  boîte d'allumettes, caja de cerillasعلبة الثقاب ,, vuurhoutjieboksie, լուցկու տուփ, kibrit qutusu , карабком запалак, кибритена кутия, capsa de llumins, 火柴盒 , 火柴盒 , kutija šibica, autíčko , tændstikæske, alumetoj, tikutoos, kahon ng mga posporo, tulitikkurasia, caixa de fósforo, Streichholzschachtel, σπιρτόκουτο, મેચબોક્સ, קופסת גפרורים  , दियासलाई, gyufaskatulya, kotak korek api, scatola per fiammiferi, マッチ箱 , ಕಡ್ಡಿ ಪೆಟ್ಟಿಗೆ , 성냥갑 , degtukų dėžutė, кибритена сандаче , kotak mancis, yrstikkeske, cutie de chibrituri, спичечная коробка, кутија шибица, autíčko, tändsticksask, మ్యాచ్ బాక్స్ , กลักไม้ขีดไฟ, kibrit kutusu ,diêm, flwch matsis.

An interesting story by the "Collectors Weekly" about the lovely "feature matches" of the 1930's in the USA

Playing With Matches: Sexy, Silly 1930s Ads That Went Up in Smoke

"Smoking is growing more taboo in the United States now, but back in the 1930s, cigarettes were sexy. And where there was smoke, there were matches. At one point, nearly every business in the country, whether it was a national chain or a local Mom ‘n’ Pop, produced logoed matchbooks to help their customers fuel their nicotine habit—now known to be a deadly addiction...."

All rights reserved to the "Collectors Weekly" - Copyright © 2007–2012 Market Street Media LLC

Thanks to my friend Mike De Mondo who sent me this link.

The nice story behind the Antique ROCHE & CIE GRAND PRIX PARIS 1900 match candles holder

This beautiful antique box of match candles holder (I wish it was mine, but I am not willing to pay more than 100$ for it...), were said to be used by women in brothels, believe it or not....as a Timer!!. A man would pay his dues and then she would light the candle. Once the candle went out, the session was over. The candle is supposed to stay lit for roughly seven minutes.

Striking Images: Matchbook Advertising - an interesting article

This week, we tell the remarkable story and journey of matchbook advertising.... (link)

 

A very interesting article about the history of  Phillumeny and Matchbook Advertising.

 

Joshua Pusey's flexible match patent.

A very interesting work of Mr. Ben Jones on Matchbox Cover Design - History and Present days, 2004

Link: Match Box Cover Design
All rights reserved to http://www.protimient.com

HOBBY HISTORY - History of the Match

Source: History of the Match III

[Ed.  Note:  keep  in  mind  that  this  was  probably written in the late 1940s]

The  year  1832  saw  the  birth  of  two  further forms of matches—the  remarkable Fuzee and  the Wax Vesta.

The  fuzee  was  not  intended  for  ordinary  or domestic  use,  but  rather  for  a  special  purpose- the  lighting  of  cigars  and  pipes  out  of  doors.  Its stalk  was  usually  composed  of  a  thick,  coarse, loose-textured  cardboard,  steeped  in  nitre,  each piece about five inches long and an inch and a half wide. He  strips  were  then  neatly  cut  nearly through  transversely  into  twelve  smaller  strips.

Roughly a quarter- inch wide, thus leaving all the smaller  strips  still  partially  attached  on  the principle of the book matches of today. One edge of  the  long  strip  was  dipped  in  a  phosphoric inflaming  composition. When dry,  it was  easy  to tear off one of the small strips for use as required. When  ignited,  it  smoldered  slowly    with  a spluttering  flame  and  could  not  be  blown  out  by the wind.

The  name  of  the  maker  was  usually  roughly printed on the long strips, which w ere folded and sold  in  chip  boxes  of  the  sliding matchbox  type.

Later,  many  makers  scented  their  cardboard fuzees,  and  they  remained  in  common  use  in England  until  about  1865,  although  in  some continental  countries,  especially  Bosnia  and Spain,  these old  cardboard  fuzees were  still used up to the end of the nineteenth century.

In  1849,  James  Palmer,  of  Camberwell, introduced  another  form  of match -Vesuvians- intended,  like  the  fuzee,  for  use  solely  out-of-doors, for lighting pipes and cigars. It had a large pear-shaped head and consisted, in addition  to  the  usual  tip  of  phosphoric  igniting composition,  of  a  mass  of  nitre,  powdered charcoal,  wood  dust,  and  cascarailla  bark,  held together  by  an  admixture  of  gum  or  glue.  On ignition,  the head burnt briskly  for  ten or  twenty seconds  and  could  not  be  extinguished,  even  by the highest wind. The one great drawback was that the  stem  often  burned  through  before  the match had  ceased    to  flame,  allowing  the  large,  heavy head  to  fall while  still alight, often  setting  fire  to clothes,  carpets,  the  seats  of  carriages,  and  the like.  Later,  to  avoid  this,  Palmer  patented  a method  of  braiding  the  stem,  which  secured  the

head  to  it  by  a  network  of  sized  cotton  threads.

Later again, the stems were often made of glass or porcelain  and  made  tubular  to  prevent  them cracking  in  the  flame,  and  also  plugged  near  the top to prevent the flame from descending the tube, issuing from the bottom and burning the hand. The  Vesta,  which  had  a  stem  originally  made not  of  wood  but  wax  taper,  was  named  after Vesta,  the  Roman  Goddess  of  the  Hearth,  in whose temple the sacred fire was kept perpetually burning. Richard Bell coined the name “vesta” for the  new wax  tapers, which  are  still  produced  by this  firm  and Bryant & May—now  amalgamated together—a stem of cork pine wood replacing the wax taper.

The wooden  stem vesta has become  so popular that  the  wax-stemmed  form  is  now  only  made here in small quantities, but is still used widely in Australia and New Zealand, as well as in Italy and Spain.

Matches were decidedly  stronger  in  those days. A  century-old  matchbox  carries  instructions  on the  box  warning  weak-lunged  people  not  to  use them because of the fumes. All the early forms of phosphorus  friction  matches  were,  however, dangerous  to  some extent. A box of  them  left on the kitchen mantelshelf, or  in  the hot  sun, would often  blaze  up  spontaneously.  Destruction  of carriers’  carts  passing  over  rough  roads  was caused  by  the  boxes  of matches,  including  their lading, igniting through being jarred in transit.

The history of the Matchbook

http://www.titanicitems.com/matchbooks.htm

The Hobby Nobody Knows: Phillumeny

You probably weren’t aware of it, but you might know someone who is a phillumenist.

When you go to a fancy restaurant or stay at a resort hotel, do you pick up a matchbook or box of matches and put it in your pocket to use later? Even people who don’t smoke or use matches will often pick up a matchbook as a souvenir, especially if the matchbook has a lovely or intriguing cover or a logo of the place it came from. There are people who have huge, impressive collections of different items related to matches-matchbooks, matchbox covers, match strikers, individual matches, and so on. If you are one of the many people who enjoy collecting matchbook-related items, then you are a phillumenist.

People started collecting matchbooks when matches first were collected into matchbooks, but there was no specific name for the practice. Marjorie Evans, a British matchbook collector who was the president of the British Matchbox Label & Booklet Society, coined the word "phillumenist" in 1943. Some matchbook collections actually include chemical matches, which were produced much earlier than the modern friction matches we use today. After WWII, there were many match manufacturers who issued special sets of matchbook covers not intended for advertising, specifically geared toward phillumenists.

By the 1960s the hobby of phillumeny grew especially popular as society became more interested in visiting exotic places and finding new ways to advertise them. But in the 1980s, with the introduction of cardboard match boxes, the hobby began waning. Collectors were disappointed with the quality of the new style matchboxes because the images on them were not as distinct and colorful, the print was of poorer quality, and they were clearly designed for straightforward advertising without as much design and flair.

As matchbooks and matchboxes became more functional and less artistic, modern matches became less interesting to collect, but the hobby of phillumeny steadily became more appealing. The reason for the heightened interest is probably that the matchbook covers from decades ago were made a long time before computers and modern printing methods began churning out ordinary matchbooks. Before the cardboard boxes, advertisers went to elaborate lengths to describe their products artistically, and each tiny cover of a matchbook was a tiny piece of art. So collections grew to include not just modern specimens of match-related items, but also collections dating back to the 1820s, when modern matches were first introduced. Phillumenists in different countries tend to collect different types of items, and they also collect match holders and strikers that aristocrats carried matches in over a century ago. Some phillumenists specialize in a certain era or type of item, while others build more general collections.

Thanks to the Internet, phillumenists around the world now have a place to gather and share information, personal stories, and galleries of their collections. These public forums have also resulted in more people becoming interested in the hobby. There were only 7 websites dedicated to phillumeny in 1998, but a decade later there are more than 100 such sites. As long as there are matches and matchbooks, there will be phillumenists.

From Buzzle.com 

Phillumeny

Phillumeny (also known as Phillumenism) is the hobby of collecting different match-related items: matchboxes, matchbox labels, matchbooks, matchcovers, matchsafes, etc.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia