stumped. color of matchheads?

[Barno]

I have only seen red-tipped orginal matches, but I have read that other (more dangerous) processes existed for match-making.
What other color match tips would have been present during this Civil War? What did Congreves & Loco Focos look like?

Thanks DDB
David D. Barno

[marlin teat]

Re: stumped. color of matchheads?

I have only seen red-tipped orginal matches, but I have read that other (more dangerous) processes existed for match-making.
What other color match tips would have been present during this Civil War? What did Congreves & Loco Focos look like?

Thanks DDB
David D. Barno

I wish I had kept the addresses but I lost them when swtiching computers. Try a Google search on "match collecting" and variations of the phrase. I found a wealth of info that way.

All of the period matches that I have seen were red tipped. One important point is that the tip was very small with a very small amount of chemical compared to modern matches.

[John E. Tobey]

Re: stumped. color of matchheads?

I don't know if the colors will show very well in this pic, but here's some original CW-type barnburners. The tips are reddish-brown, and as Marlin has already pointed out, there is very little composition on the tips compared to modern matches.

John Tobey

[Bushrod Carter]

Re: stumped. color of matchheads?

I bought a period match-safe a couple years back. There were about a dozen stick matches in it (can't say 100% if they are original mid-nineteenth century) that were smaller than modern stick matches and had an all black head on them.

Patrick Craddock

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: stumped. color of matchheads?

I believe that red is appropriate for safety matches of the period and other colors might indicate more primitive (and poisonous) manufacturing processes, or perhaps some degree of decay.

A great deal of information can be obtained by following various links from this site, which I became aware of through an editor friend of mine in NYC who happens also to be an avid member of the British Matchbox Label and Booklet Society (BMLBS -- there will always be an England):

http://www.phillumeny.com/html/links.html

It is also possible to obtain from various sites labels that are of much greater authenticity than the monochromatic "lucifer" labels commonly found at the sutlers'.

The modern safety match as we know it was invented in Sweden in the 1840s, but first began to gain international notoreity after the Paris Exposition of 1855. In the civil war one might see both domestic and imported (largely Swedish) matches. Balthasar Mertens, for example, came from a factory in Belgium bought by a Jonkoping firm in the late 1850's to exploit the continental market (due to their extreme lethality, earlier phosporous matches had been banned entirely in France and much of Germany). Jokers came from a Swedish factory that started up around 1860. Other brands include Granville "flaming fusees" (sounds like a good thing to call someone) and various kinds of Vestas. Today Swan Vestas are another kind of safety match, but "vesta" also seems to have been used back in the early days of unsafe matches in the 30's. I suspect loco-focos are of similar origin -- essentially the same kind of match marketed under various combustible-sounding names. I think congreves date to the late '20s and were sulfur-tipped (yellow?).

Here's some additional info:

http://26.1911encyclopedia.org/M/MA/MATCH.htm

As far as I know, American made matches of this period were fairly few and not of the "safety" variety. Swedish matches flooded the world for much of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The provenance of any matchbox label (and matches) is difficult to prove. Unlike postage stamps and currency there are no official records concerning their production.

I hope this helps. If someone has additional information (or corrections), I would be very happy to hear it.

[markj]

Re: stumped. color of matchheads?

Greetings,

Disclaimer: Kids, don't try this at home.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, October 8, 1862, p. 1, c. 1
Friction Matches. The best known preparation for friction matches consists of gum arabic, 16 parts by the weight; phosphorus, 9 parts, niter, 14; peroxyd of manganese, in powder, 16 parts. The gum is first made into mucilage with water, then the manganese, then the phosophorus, and the whole is heated to about 130 degrees Fah. When the phosphorus is melted, the niter is added, and the whole is thoroughly stirred until the mass is a uniform paste. The wooden matches, prepared first with sulphur, and then dipped in this, and afterward dried in the air.—Ouachita Journal.

I've also seen a number of newspaper items reporting that small children occasionally died from poisoning after putting friction matches in their mouths.

Regards,

Mark D. Jaeger

[SparksBird]

Re: stumped. color of matchheads?

Dave,
There was an excellent article in the recent ALHFAM bulletin about the history of matches. It was written by Tom Kelleher from Old Sturbridge Village. It also mentioned that they have some originals, one of which was sold in a tin, in their collections. You might want to check out www.osv.org and see if you can contact them on theirs. Tom's article also features an excellent account of a gentleman in the 1850s whose matches went off from concussion in his steamer trunk.

Rick Musselman
Buckeye Mess
GHTI

[markj]

Re: stumped. color of matchheads?

Greetings,

You might be interested in this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2226479469&indexURL=3&photoDisplayType=2#ebayphotohosting

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[10TnVI]

Re: stumped. color of matchheads?

An 1856 edition of Scientific American contained essentially the same recipe for matches posted below by Mark Jaeger. It noted that Smalt(a cobalt derived blue pigment) and Cinnabar(a red/orange pigment derived from mercury) are used to color the matches. With that info I'd say pre-war both blue and red heads are were considered normal.