Strike a light. I opened a new box of Swan matches this afternoon, it was the third box out of an outer wrap of four and the outer wrapper was still in place around the remaining two boxes.
I was more than a little surprised by what I found.
A closer look
Now the fact the boys are as surprised (and curious)as I am about this, and that the I tore open the wrapper to get the box out suggest to me this didn’t happen here, and not the result of a boyish prank in this house.
We’d welcome an explanation. Here is one version of such an event(with the odd expletive)
Entering ‘Swan matches burnt in box’ in to a search engine, brought up some very odd links, not least what appeared to be a spoof site for bargain cremations in Southampton, which nearly got a link until we felt it took black humour just a graphic step too far.
But I know you are fond of a meandering link, hopping across time and space.
Try the history of the match girls
And how they changed the political landscape of the day.
I knew a guy once who, while playing football in jeans, performed a rather nice slide tackle on an opponent, only to discover that the box of matches in his back pocket had gone up in flames. He was left with a blister the size of a saucer on his backside and couldn’t sit properly for weeks!
Ouchhhhhh. Nasty.
Matches just aren’t what they used to be. We have Swan Vestas which aren’t safety matches because the heads of the “safety” matches kept coming off whilst alight, spreading flames far and wide. The heads don’t seem to come off the Swans, but they aren’t of the quality they were a few years ago – the pink heads have paled and they are often siamesed. I suppose it’s the result of moving manufacture overseas.
This is the sort of thing that makes Firefighters gray – especially Firefighters whose eccentric mothers will insist upon living in the woods and playing with matches all winter.
And those are excellent links. Bracing.
Gerry it is our maternal duty to be eccentric mothers.
I once threw a box of matches across the room to someone, and the box ignited enroute! The group then looked at me as if expecting my next trick.
Instead, I felt like doing the disappearing act 
Dangerous, for sure.
Dramatic…
How intriguing! Anyway it’s made a fascinating post. xx
Well, I’ve learned loads this morning! It’s good to be reminded of some History that meant nothing to me when I was taught it the first time round. As I often say, ‘Education is wasted on the young,’ although I’m not sure that, as a teacher, I ought to. I liked the Swan Vestas clips and comments. I now want to try that dangerous trick of throwing a box of matches across a room, but I might do it across the garden instead. I wonder how many times I would need to try to get it to ignite!