Name/Title
Bryant & May's Match box holder with non-poisonous matches, c. early 1900sEntry/Object ID
2001.128.2Description
Acc. No. 01.128.2
Subject: Household
Date/Period: early 1900s
Object: Holder, Match Box
Description: Oblong-shaped metal tin container with sides opens up, holding a cardboard box with matches with grey heads. Top and bottom are engraved; one side has an image of a factory and the words “Fairfield Works, Bow, London; the other side has “Bryant & Mays safety matches”, "Prize medals" and "Protection from Fire Protection to Health", "Are not Poisonous". "Harmelss to those employed in the Manufacture.
Size: L 2" X W 3" X H 1"
History: item found in a crawlspace of the owner's home in Alameda, located in the East End.
Bryant and May were quakers who started the matchmaking in 1843; in 1861 they started operating the Bow, East London, factory as a model factory.
The additional information refers to the banning of white - aka yellow - phosphorous used to manufacture early matches, which caused phosphor poisoning disease, called 'Phossy Jaw", among workers. After a strike by - mainly Bryant & May workers, mainly female - in London in 1888, Bryant & May finally stopped using white phosphorous in 1901. A number of countries banned the use at the Berne Convention in 1906.
Acquired From: Anonymous Donor
Date: 7/7/01
