Matches have been one of the most important elements of human life for many decades, and even today they play an important role in our everyday life. Usually, when we strike a match on a box, we don’t even think about what chemical reactions are occurring at that second and how much ingenuity and effort people have put into having such a convenient means of making fire.

Ordinary matches are undoubtedly one of the most amazing inventions of the human mind. To be convinced of this, it is enough to remember how much effort it took to start a fire in the old days.

True, our ancestors abandoned the tedious method of extracting fire by friction back in ancient times. In the Middle Ages, a more convenient device for this purpose appeared - a flint, but even with it, lighting a fire required a certain skill and effort. When steel struck flint, a spark was struck, which fell on tinder impregnated with saltpeter. The tinder began to smolder. By attaching a piece of paper, shavings or any other kindling to it, the fire was fanned. Fanning the spark was the most unpleasant part of this activity. But was it possible to do without it? Someone came up with the idea of ​​dipping a dry splinter into molten sulfur. As a result, a sulfur head formed at one tip of the splinter. When the head was pressed against the smoldering tinder, it flared up. It set the whole sparkle on fire. This is how the first matches appeared.

It must be said that throughout their entire previous history, people tried to get fire using mechanical influences - friction or impact. With this approach, the sulfur match could only play an auxiliary role, since it was impossible to directly produce fire with its help, because it did not ignite either from impact or from friction. But at the end of the 18th century, the famous chemist Berthollet proved that flame can be the result of a chemical reaction. In particular, if you drop sulfuric acid onto potassium hypochlorite (Bertholtol's salt), a flame will appear. This discovery made it possible to approach the problem of making fire from a completely different angle. In different countries, many years of research have begun to create matches with the end smeared with one or another chemical substance that can ignite under certain conditions.

In 1812, Chapselle invented the first self-lighting matches, which were still very imperfect, but with their help it was possible to produce a flame much faster than with a flint. Chapselle's matches were wooden sticks with a head made of a mixture of sulfur, berthollet salt and cinnabar (the latter served to color the incendiary mass a beautiful red color). In sunny weather, such a match was lit using a biconvex lens, and in other cases - by contact with a drop of concentrated sulfuric acid. These matches were very expensive and, in addition, dangerous, since sulfuric acid sprayed when the head was ignited and could cause burns. It is clear that they are not widely used. Matches with heads that ignite with light friction should have become more practical. However, sulfur was not suitable for this purpose.

They were looking for another flammable substance and then they paid attention to white phosphorus, discovered in 1669 by the German alchemist Brand. Brand obtained phosphorus while trying to create the philosopher's stone by evaporating a mixture of sand and urine. Phosphorus is much more flammable than sulfur, but not everything worked out right away with it. At first, the matches were difficult to light, since the phosphorus burned out too quickly and did not have time to ignite the torch. Then they began to apply it over the head of an old sulfur match, assuming that sulfur would ignite faster from phosphorus than wood. But these matches also lit poorly. Things started to improve only after they began to mix phosphorus with substances that, when heated, could release the oxygen necessary for ignition.

The next version of chemical matches, lit by contact of a head made of a mixture of sugar and potassium perchlorate with sulfuric acid, appeared in Vienna. In 1813, the first match factory in Austria-Hungary, Mahliard & Wik, was registered here for the production of chemical matches. A version of this match was used by Charles Darwin, who bit through the glass of a flask containing acid and risked getting burned.

By the time the production of sulfur matches began (1826) by the English chemist and pharmacist John Walker, chemical matches were already quite widespread in Europe. The heads in John Walker's matches consisted of a mixture of antimony sulfide, berthollet salt and gum arabic (gum - a viscous liquid secreted by acacia). When such a match was rubbed against sandpaper (grater) or another fairly rough surface, its head easily ignited. Walker's matches were a yard long. They were packed in tin cases of 100 pieces. The main disadvantage of the Walker and Soria matches was the instability of the ignition of the match handle - the burning time of the head was very short. In addition, these matches had a terrible smell and sometimes lit with an explosion. Perhaps this is why Walker did not make much money from his invention.

Now it is difficult to say who was the first to come up with a successful recipe for an incendiary mass for phosphorus matches. According to one version, it was developed in 1830 by 19-year-old French chemist Charles Soria. His matches consisted of a mixture of Berthollet salt, white phosphorus and glue. These matches were very flammable, since they caught fire even from mutual friction in the box and when rubbing against any hard surface, for example, the sole of a boot. At that time, there was even an English joke in which a whole match said to another, half-burnt one: “See how your bad habit of scratching the back of your head ends!”

According to another version, it was the Austrian Irini. In 1833, he proposed the following method for making matches to the entrepreneur Roemer: “You need to take some hot glue, preferably gum arabic, throw a piece of phosphorus into it and shake the bottle with glue vigorously. In hot glue, vigorous agitation will break the phosphorus into small particles. They adhere so closely to the glue that a thick, whitish liquid is formed. Next, you need to add finely ground lead peroxide powder to this mixture. All this is stirred until a uniform brown mass is obtained. First you need to prepare sulfur, that is, splinters whose ends are covered with sulfur. The sulfur needs to be covered with a layer of phosphorus mass on top. To do this, sulfur is dipped into the prepared mixture. Now all that remains is to dry them. Thus, matches are obtained. They ignite very easily. You just have to hit them against the wall.”

This description made it possible for Roemer to open a match factory. He, however, understood that carrying matches in his pocket and striking them against the wall was inconvenient and came up with the idea of ​​packing them in boxes, on one side of which they glued rough paper (they prepared it simply - dipped it in glue and poured sand or crushed glass onto it). When struck against such paper (or any rough surface), the match ignited. Having established a trial production of matches to begin with, Roemer then expanded production forty times - so great was the demand for his product, and he earned huge money from the production of matches. Other manufacturers followed his example, and soon phosphorus matches became a popular and cheap commodity in all countries.

Gradually, several different compositions of incendiary mass were developed. Already from Irini’s description it is clear that the head of the phosphorus match included several components, each of which performed its own functions. First of all, there was phosphorus, which played the role of an igniter. Substances that release oxygen were mixed into it. In addition to the rather dangerous bertholet salt, manganese peroxide or red lead could be used in this role, and in more expensive matches, lead peroxide, which was generally the most suitable material.

Less flammable substances were placed under a layer of phosphorus, transferring the flame from the igniter to a wooden splinter. It could be sulfur, stearin or paraffin. To ensure that the reaction did not proceed too quickly and the wood had time to heat up to the combustion temperature, neutral substances were added, for example, pumice or powdered glass. Finally, glue was mixed into the mass in order to connect all the other components. When the head rubbed against a rough surface, heat arose at the point of contact, sufficient to ignite nearby phosphorus particles, which ignited others. In this case, the mass became so hot that the body containing oxygen decomposed. The released oxygen contributed to the ignition of the flammable substance that was under the head (sulfur, paraffin, etc.). From him the fire was transferred to the tree.

The first phosphorus matches were brought to Russia in 1836, they were expensive - a silver ruble per hundred.

The big disadvantage of phosphorus matches was the toxicity of phosphorus. In match factories, workers quickly (sometimes within several months) were poisoned by phosphorus fumes and became unable to work. The harmfulness of this production exceeded even mirror and hat production. In addition, a solution of an incendiary mass in water produced a powerful poison, which was used by suicides (and often murderers).

In 1847, Schröter discovered non-toxic amorphous red phosphorus. Since that time, there was a desire to replace dangerous white phosphorus with it. The famous German chemist Bötcher was the first to solve this problem. He prepared a mixture of sulfur and bertholet salt, mixing them with glue, and applied it to the splinters coated with paraffin. But, alas, it turned out to be impossible to light these matches on the rough surface. Then Boettcher came up with the idea of ​​lubricating the piece of paper with a special composition containing a certain amount of red phosphorus. When a match was rubbed against such a surface, the particles of red phosphorus ignited due to the particles of the berthollet salt of the head touching them and ignited the latter. The new matches burned with an even yellow flame. They did not produce either smoke or that unpleasant odor that accompanied phosphorus matches. However, Boettcher's invention did not initially interest the manufacturers. And only in 1851, “safety matches” according to Bechter’s recipe began to be produced by the Lundström brothers from Sweden. Therefore, phosphorus-free matches have long been called “Swedish”. In 1855, these matches were awarded a medal at the World Exhibition in Paris. Once “safety” matches became widespread, many countries banned the production and sale of matches made from poisonous white phosphorus.

Limited production of white phosphorus matches continued only in England, Canada and the USA, mainly for army purposes, and also (until 1925) in some Asian countries. In 1906, the international Berne Convention was adopted, prohibiting the use of white phosphorus in the production of matches. By 1910, the production of phosphorus matches in Europe and America had completely ceased.

At the end of the 19th century, matchmaking became Sweden's "national sport". In 1876, 38 match factories were built in this country, and a total of 121 factories were operating. However, by the beginning of the 20th century, almost all of them either went bankrupt or merged into large concerns.

Currently, matches manufactured in most European countries do not contain sulfur and chlorine compounds - paraffins and chlorine-free oxidizers are used instead.

It would seem that you couldn’t imagine a simpler object than ordinary matches. Everyone is familiar with them - from young to old! Children know that for them this is “not a toy,” but adults use them as widely as possible. But it’s unlikely that when lighting a gas burner or making a fire, we think, when were matches invented?

“Now I know 1000 ways not to invent the light bulb...”

In ancient times, fire was produced by striking a spark by striking a flint with a special flint. The spark was supposed to ignite the tinder - a wick soaked in a flammable substance. The method is extremely unreliable, because you could knock for hours, but the treasured light still did not appear.

After reading about this, the reader is in a hurry to move on, but if you stop for a second and think about what came first - matches or a lighter, the answer will not be obvious at all! The modern lighter has essentially the same principle - there is flint, a piece of steel (a wheel that replaces the flint) and tinder - a gasoline “thread”. And this means that the lighter was invented before matches!

However, let's get back to the topic. The first matches appeared in a completely different “guise”. First there were “chemical flints” - matches that were lit by contact with sulfuric acid, then wooden sticks with a glass head, which had to be crushed with tongs.

Close to the “ideal” was the invention of John Walker. Then matches appeared in the world, which could be lit by “striking” the head. However, his “light sticks” were unsafe: after combustion, they left a trail of extremely unpleasant sulfur dioxide gas, scattered into clouds of sparks when ignited, and were 90 cm long! So Walker never became the one who invented matches.

Then there was the French chemist Charles Soria, whose matches were less “poisonous”, but ignited upon touching any surface. This became their main disadvantage - they caught fire even during transportation!

Finally success!

And yet, in what year were matches invented? Only in 1853. To begin with, red phosphorus was discovered in Austria in 1847. It is not harmful to humans. Safety matches were invented by the chemist J. Lundström, who guessed to apply this same phosphorus to the “ignition surface” and to the head of the match. But the matchbox was invented much later - only in 1889. Thus, the answer to the question in which country matches were invented is the following wording: Sweden (safety matches are sometimes called “Swedish”), but only after the “French” red phosphorus.

When did matches appear in Russia?

There is no exact information about when matches appeared in Russia. It is believed that the first manufactory where matches were made appeared in the period from 1833 to 1837. The production of "fire sticks" underwent ups and downs, but by 1913 the "races" had ceased, and match production began to actively develop. Since 1862, restrictions were imposed on the production of Soria products, and by the beginning of the 20th century there were only safety matches.

Types of matches

What types of matches are there? Today – very different!

• Ordinary (now, of course, only safe)
• Storm, or hunting (can warm in strong winds and rain);
• Signal (with colored flame);
• Fireplace (very long);
• Thermal (generate a lot of heat);
• Gas (longer than regular, but shorter than fireplace);
• Decorative (something like gift sets - with colored heads and memorable designs on the boxes).

It’s amazing that such small and familiar things conceal a huge story of trial and error, failure and success.

With the advent of the first matches, humanity finally mastered the ability to control fire like never before. With instant access to fire, cheap price, small size and reliable use, matches and lighters have enriched our history and way of life. The people who invented these marvelous devices were few and far between, but their efforts are still remembered in history as very important moments that changed the path of society, allowing it to develop more successfully. But today not many people know the history of when matches were invented and who invented them. This article aims to address the knowledge gap.

The first matches ever created did not have the ability to create fire on their own, but were instead used to quickly increase smaller fire sources. Catching the smallest spark, Chinese sticks coated with sulfur burned brightly, which made it possible to quickly form a traditional fire. However, this method has not evolved into something that can be used today.

Hennig Brandt

Hennig Brandt was the first chemist (he called himself an alchemist) to discover the properties of phosphorus in 1669. By discovering the substance and recording its properties, he allowed future scientists to use it in their projects and tests. Brandt himself was disappointed by the discovery of phosphorus, and he did not pursue its development, wanting instead to find the secret of turning various metals into gold.

However, a young Parisian chemist, Jean Chancel, was very interested in inventing a simple and safe way to produce wooden matches. In 1805, he came up with a method to create a strong chemical reaction that creates fire. The reaction involved dipping a wooden stick that was coated with a mixture of potassium chlorate, sulfur, sugar and rubber into an asbestos bottle that was filled with sulfuric acid. Although his dangerous and toxic invention did not see much commercial use, it did open the door for other inventors to step up and try to find a more chemically acceptable solution to the problem of improving matches.

This solution came from John Walker, an English chemist and apothecary who invented sulfur matches in 1826. He combined a mixture of sulfur and other materials that coated a wooden stick and strong paper coated with phosphorus. By striking a match between the folded paper, the sulfur ignited and the stick caught fire. Over the next few years he was able to sell numerous matches of this design, but it became apparent that its chemical formula was not suitable for widespread use. The matches invented by Walker, when burned out, left behind an unpleasant sulfur dioxide gas, and when burning, a whole sheaf of sparks flew out of them, and they were almost a meter (90 cm) long. The gray tip of the wand often burned so hot that it managed to detach from the wand, setting fire to the carpets and dresses of the people who used it.

John Walker

The invention did not bring Walker any money or fame. He did not want to patent his sulfur matches, although even Michael Faraday convinced him to do so, but there was a resourceful boy, Samuel Jones, who was able to see that he could make good money here. He attended Walker’s demonstrations and, based on them, created his own matches, which he called “Lucifers” and began selling them. Matches, for all their shortcomings, were a success. They were packed in tin cases, 100 pieces each.

Lucifer matches

Another great improvement in the history of matches was due to the exploits of Charles Sauria, a chemist who was the first to introduce mixed white phosphorus into the match industry. Although its mixture, created in the 1830s, was incredibly strong and highly flammable (even self-igniting), the toxicity of white phosphorus outraged people and government officials, who declared it banned after decades of use. It got to the point where match factory workers developed necrosis of bone tissue. In those days, suicidal people even came up with a way to quickly commit suicide; they simply ate several heads from Sauria’s force matches.

Charles Sauria

The creator of the most popular match design is the Swede Gustaf Erik Pasch (1788-1862), who, together with Johan Edward Lundström, managed to create a safe design - an easy-to-use, cheap and non-toxic match that did not have the ability to self-ignite. By placing a coating of phosphorus in a separate location, the little matches with their famous red heads instantly captivated the world.

Swedish matches

More than 500 billion matches are used every year, which would not be possible without the efforts and ingenuity of all those scientists from our past.

In the video below you can see how modern matches are produced:

This video explains in detail and shows how the burning reaction of a match occurs:

Matches also make beautiful fire dominoes:

A match is a stick (shaft, straw) made of flammable material, equipped with an ignition head at the end, used to produce an open fire.

Matches are a relatively recent invention of mankind; they replaced flint and steel about two centuries ago, when looms were already working, trains and steamships were running. But it was not until 1844 that the creation of safety matches was announced.

Before a match broke out in the hands of a man, many events happened, each of which contributed to the long and difficult path of creating a match.

Although the use of fire dates back to the dawn of mankind, it is believed that matches were originally invented in China in 577 during the Qi Dynasty, which ruled northern China (550-577). The courtiers found themselves under military siege and left without fire; they invented them from sulfur.

But let's find out the history of this everyday thing in more detail...

A description of these matches is given by Tao Gu in his book “Evidence of the Extraordinary and Supernatural” (c. 950):

“If something unexpected happens overnight, it takes some time. An insightful person simplified small pine sticks by impregnating them with sulfur. They were ready to use. All that remains is to rub them on an uneven surface. The result was a flame as big as an ear of wheat. This miracle is called "the servant clothed with light." But when I started selling them, I called them fire sticks.” In 1270, matches were already freely sold on the market in the city of Hangzhou.

In Europe, matches were invented only in 1805 by the French chemist Chancel, although already in 1680 the Irish physicist Robert Boyle (who discovered Boyle's law) coated a small piece of paper with phosphorus and took the already familiar wooden stick with a sulfur head. He rubbed it on the paper and as a result a fire broke out.

The word “match” comes from the old Russian word spitsa - a sharpened wooden stick, or splinter. Initially, knitting needles were the name given to wooden nails that were used to attach the sole to a shoe. At first, in Russia, matches were called “incendiary, or samogar matches.”

Sticks for matches can be either wooden (soft woods are used - linden, aspen, poplar, American white pine...), as well as cardboard and wax (cotton rope impregnated with paraffin).

Collecting match labels, boxes, matches themselves and other related items is called philumenia. And their collectors are called phylumenists.

According to the method of ignition, matches can be grated, which are ignited by friction against the surface of a matchbox, and non-grated, which are ignited on any surface (remember how Charlie Chaplin lit a match on his trousers).

In ancient times, to make a fire, our ancestors used the friction of wood against wood, then they began to use flint and invented flint. But even with it, lighting a fire required time, a certain skill and effort. By striking the steel against the flint, they struck a spark that fell on the tinder soaked in saltpeter. It began to smolder and from it, using dry kindling, the fire was fanned

The next invention was the impregnation of a dry splinter with molten sulfur. When the head of sulfur was pressed against the smoldering tinder, it burst into flames. And she was already setting fire to the hearth. This is how the prototype of the modern match appeared.

In 1669, white phosphorus, easily ignited by friction, was discovered and used in the production of the first match heads.

In 1680, the Irish physicist Robert Boyle (1627 - 1691, who discovered Boyle's law), coated a small piece of phosphorus with such phosphorus and took the already familiar wooden stick with a sulfur head. He rubbed it on the paper and as a result a fire broke out. But unfortunately, Robert Boyle did not draw any useful conclusion from this.

Chapselle's wooden matches, invented in 1805, had a head made of a mixture of sulfur, bertholite salt, and cinnabar red, which was used to color the head. Such a match was lit either with the help of a magnifying glass from the Sun (remember how in childhood they burned out drawings or set fire to carbon paper), or by dripping concentrated sulfuric acid onto it. His matches were dangerous to use and very expensive.

A little later, in 1827, the English chemist and apothecary John Walker (1781-1859) discovered that if you coat the end of a wooden stick with certain chemicals, then scratch it on a dry surface, the head lights up and sets the stick on fire. The chemicals he used were: antimony sulfide, bertholet's salt, gum and starch. Walker did not patent his "Congreves," as he called the world's first matches that were lit by friction.

An important role in the birth of the match was played by the discovery of white phosphorus made by a retired soldier from Hamburg, Henning Brand, in 1669. After studying the works of famous alchemists of that time, he decided to get gold. As a result of the experiments, a certain light powder was accidentally obtained. This substance had the amazing property of luminescence, and Brand called it “phosphorus,” which translated from Greek means “luminiferous.”

As for Walker, as often happens, the pharmacist invented matches by accident. In 1826, he mixed chemicals using a stick. A dried drop formed at the end of this stick. To remove it, he struck the floor with a stick. Fire broke out! Like all slow-witted people, he did not bother to patent his invention, but demonstrated it to everyone. A guy named Samuel Jones was present at such a demonstration and realized the market value of the invention. He called the matches “Lucifers” and began selling tons of them, despite the fact that there were some problems associated with “Lucifers” - they smelled bad and, when ignited, scattered clouds of sparks around.

He soon released them to the market. The first sale of matches took place on April 7, 1827 in the city of Hikso. Walker made some money from his invention. His matches and "Congreves", however, often exploded and were unpredictably dangerous to handle. He died in 1859, aged 78, and was buried in Norton Parish Church cemetery, Stockton.

However, Samuel Jones soon saw Walker's "Congreves" matches and decided to start selling them as well, calling them "Lucifers". Perhaps due to their name, Lucifers matches became popular, especially among smokers, but they also had an unpleasant odor when burning

There was another problem - the head of the first matches consisted of only phosphorus, which ignited perfectly, but burned out too quickly and the wooden stick did not always have time to light up. We had to return to the old recipe - a sulfur head and began to apply phosphorus to it to make it easier to set fire to the sulfur, which in turn set fire to the wood. Soon they came up with another improvement to the match head - they began to mix chemicals that release oxygen when heated with phosphorus.

In 1832, dry matches appeared in Vienna. They were invented by L. Trevani; he covered the head of a wooden straw with a mixture of Berthollet salt with sulfur and glue. If you run such a match over sandpaper, the head will ignite, but sometimes this happened with an explosion, and this led to serious burns.

The ways to further improve matches were extremely clear: it was necessary to make the following mixture composition for the match head. so that it lights up calmly. Soon the problem was solved. The new composition included Berthollet salt, white phosphorus and glue. Matches with such a coating could easily ignite on any hard surface, on glass, on the sole of a shoe, on a piece of wood.
The inventor of the first phosphorus matches was a nineteen-year-old Frenchman, Charles Soria. In 1831, a young experimenter added white phosphorus to a mixture of bertholite salt and sulfur to weaken its explosive properties. This idea turned out to be successful, since the matches lubricated with the resulting composition easily ignited when rubbed. The ignition temperature of such matches is relatively low - 30 degrees. The scientist wanted to patent his invention, but for this he had to pay a lot of money, which he did not have. A year later, matches were again created by the German chemist J. Kammerer.

These matches were easily flammable, and therefore caused fires, and besides, white phosphorus is a very toxic substance. Match factory workers suffered from serious illnesses caused by phosphorus fumes.

The first successful recipe for an incendiary mass for making phosphorus matches was apparently invented by the Austrian Irini in 1833. Irini offered it to entrepreneur Remer, who opened a match factory. But it was inconvenient to carry matches in bulk, and then a matchbox with rough paper glued to it was born. Now there was no longer any need to strike a phosphorus match against anything. The only problem was that sometimes the matches in the box caught fire due to friction.

Due to the danger of self-ignition of phosphorus matches, the search began for a more convenient and safe flammable substance. Discovered in 1669 by the German alchemist Brand, white phosphorus was easier to set on fire than sulfur, but its disadvantage was that it was a strong poison and, when burned, gave off a very unpleasant and harmful odor. Match factory workers, having inhaled white phosphorus fumes, became disabled in just a few months. In addition, by dissolving it in water, they obtained a strong poison that could easily kill a person.

In 1847, Schröter discovered red phosphorus, which was no longer poisonous. Thus, the replacement of poisonous white phosphorus in matches with red gradually began. The first combustible mixture based on it was created by the German chemist Betcher. He made a match head using glue from a mixture of sulfur and Berthollet salt, and impregnated the match itself with paraffin. The match burned superbly, but its only drawback was that it did not ignite as before due to friction against a rough surface. Then Boettcher lubricated this surface with a composition containing red phosphorus. When the head of a match was rubbed, the particles of red phosphorus contained in it ignited, ignited the head and the match lit up with an even yellow flame. These matches did not produce any smoke or the unpleasant smell of phosphorus matches.

Boettcher's invention did not initially attract the attention of industrialists. Its matches were first produced in 1851 by the Swedes, the Lundström brothers. In 1855, Johan Edward Lundström patented his matches in Sweden. That’s why “safety matches” began to be called “Swedish”.

The Swede applied red phosphorus to the surface of sandpaper on the outside of a small box and added the same phosphorus to the composition of the match head. Thus, they no longer caused harm to health and were easily ignited on a pre-prepared surface. Safety matches were presented at the International Exhibition in Paris that same year and received a gold medal. From that moment on, the match began its triumphal march around the world. Their main feature was that they did not ignite when rubbed against any hard surface. The Swedish match was lit only if it was rubbed against the side surface of the box, covered with a special mass.

Soon after this, Swedish matches began to spread around the world and soon the production and sale of hazardous phosphorus matches was banned in many countries. After a few decades, the production of phosphorus matches stopped completely.

In America, the history of producing your own matchbox began in 1889. Joshua Pusey from Philadelphia invented his own matchbox and called it Flexibles. To this day, no information has reached us about the number of matches placed in this box. There are two versions - there were 20 or 50. He made the first American matchbox from cardboard using scissors. On a small wood stove, he cooked up a mixture for the match heads and coated the surface of the box with another bright mixture to light them. Beginning in 1892, Pusey spent the next 36 months defending the priority of his discovery in the courts. As often happens with great inventions, the idea was already in the air and at the same time other people were also working on the invention of the matchbox. Pusey's patent was unsuccessfully challenged by the Diamond Match Company, which invented a similar matchbox. An inventor rather than a fighter, in 1896 he agreed to the Diamond Match Company's offer to sell his patent for $4,000 along with a job offer for the company. There was a reason to sue, because already in 1895, match production volumes exceeded 150,000 matchboxes per day.

But perhaps the USA became the only country. where in the 40s a free box of matches came with a pack of cigarettes. They were an integral part of every cigarette purchase. The price of a matchbox has not increased in America in fifty years. So the rise and fall of the matchbox in America tracked the number of packs of cigarettes sold.

Matches came to Russia in the 30s of the 19th century and were sold for a hundred silver rubles. Later, the first matchboxes appeared, first wooden, and then tin. Moreover, even then labels were attached to them, which led to the emergence of a whole branch of collecting - phylumenia. The label carried not only information, but also decorated and complemented the matches.

By the time the law was passed in 1848 allowing their production only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the number of factories producing them reached 30. The following year, only one match factory was operating. In 1859, the monopoly law was repealed and in 1913 there were 251 match factories operating in Russia.

Modern wooden matches are made in two ways: the veneer method (for square matches) and the stamping method (for round matches). Small aspen or pine logs are either chipped or stamped with a match machine. The matches sequentially pass through five baths, in which a general impregnation with a fire-fighting solution is carried out, a ground layer of paraffin is applied to one end of the match to ignite the wood from the match head, a layer forming the head is applied on top of it, a second layer is applied to the tip of the head, the head is also sprayed with a strengthening solution , protecting it from atmospheric influences. A modern match machine (18 meters long and 7.5 meters high) produces up to 10 million matches in an eight-hour shift.

How does a modern match work? The mass of a match head consists of 60% berthollet salt, as well as flammable substances - sulfur or metal sulfides. In order for the head to ignite slowly and evenly, without an explosion, so-called fillers are added to the mass - glass powder, iron (III) oxide, etc. The binding material is glue.

What does the skin coating consist of? The main component is red phosphorus. Manganese (IV) oxide, crushed glass and glue are added to it.

What processes occur when a match is lit? When the head rubs against the skin at the point of contact, red phosphorus ignites due to the oxygen of Berthollet salt. Figuratively speaking, fire is initially born in the skin. He lights the match head. Sulfur or sulfide flares up in it, again due to the oxygen of Berthollet salt. And then the tree catches fire.

The word “match” comes from the plural form of the word “spoke” (a pointed wooden stick). The word originally meant wooden shoe nails, and this meaning of "match" still exists in a number of dialects. The matches used to start fire were initially called “incendiary (or samogar) matches.”

In 1922, all factories in the USSR were nationalized, but their number after the devastation became an order of magnitude smaller. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the USSR produced about 55 boxes of matches per person. At the beginning of the war, most match factories were located in the territory occupied by the Germans and a match crisis began in the country. Huge demands for matches fell on the eight remaining match factories. In the USSR, lighters began to be produced en masse. After the war, the production of matches quickly picked up again.

Signal - which give a bright and far visible colored flame when burning.
Thermal - when these matches burn, a greater amount of heat is released, and their combustion temperature is much higher than a regular match (300 degrees Celsius).
Photographic - giving an instant bright flash when photographing.
Household supplies in large packaging.
Storm or hunting matches - these matches are not afraid of dampness, they can burn in the wind and in the rain.

In Russia, 99% of all matches produced are aspen matchsticks. Rubbed matches of various types are the main type of matches throughout the world. Stemless (sesquisulfide) matches were invented in 1898 by French chemists Saven and Caen and are produced mainly in English-speaking countries, mainly for military needs. The basis of the rather complex composition of the head is non-toxic phosphorus sesquisulfide and Berthollet salt.

Matches are a relatively recent invention of mankind; they replaced flint and steel about two centuries ago, when looms were already working, trains and steamships were running. But it was not until 1844 that the creation of safety matches was announced.

Before a match broke out in the hands of a man, many events happened, each of which contributed to the long and difficult path of creating a match.

Although the use of fire dates back to the dawn of mankind, it is believed that matches were originally invented in China in 577 during the Qi Dynasty, which ruled northern China (550-577). The courtiers found themselves under military siege and left without fire; they invented them from sulfur.

But let's find out the history of this everyday thing in more detail...

A description of these matches is given by Tao Gu in his book “Evidence of the Extraordinary and Supernatural” (c. 950):

“If something unexpected happens overnight, it takes some time. An insightful person simplified small pine sticks by impregnating them with sulfur. They were ready to use. All that remains is to rub them on an uneven surface. The result was a flame as big as an ear of wheat. This miracle is called "the servant clothed with light." But when I started selling them, I called them fire sticks.” In 1270, matches were already freely sold on the market in the city of Hangzhou.

In Europe, matches were invented only in 1805 by the French chemist Chancel, although already in 1680 the Irish physicist Robert Boyle (who discovered Boyle's law) coated a small piece of paper with phosphorus and took the already familiar wooden stick with a sulfur head. He rubbed it on the paper and as a result a fire broke out

The word “match” comes from the old Russian word spica - a sharpened wooden stick, or splinter. Initially, knitting needles were the name given to wooden nails that were used to attach the sole to a shoe. At first, in Russia, matches were called “incendiary, or samogar matches.”

Sticks for matches can be either wooden (soft woods are used - linden, aspen, poplar, American white pine...), as well as cardboard and wax (cotton string impregnated with paraffin).

Collecting match labels, boxes, matches themselves and other related items is called philumenia. And their collectors are called phylumenists.

According to the method of ignition, matches can be grated, which are ignited by friction against the surface of a matchbox, and non-grated, which are ignited on any surface (remember how Charlie Chaplin lit a match on his trousers).

In ancient times, to make a fire, our ancestors used the friction of wood against wood, then they began to use flint and invented flint. But even with it, lighting a fire required time, a certain skill and effort. By striking the steel against the flint, they struck a spark that fell on the tinder soaked in saltpeter. It began to smolder and from it, using dry kindling, the fire was fanned

The next invention was the impregnation of a dry splinter with molten sulfur. When the head of sulfur was pressed against the smoldering tinder, it burst into flames. And she was already setting fire to the hearth. This is how the prototype of the modern match appeared.

In 1669, white phosphorus, easily ignited by friction, was discovered and used in the production of the first match heads.

In 1680, the Irish physicist Robert Boyle (1627 - 1691, who discovered Boyle's law), coated a small piece of phosphorus with such phosphorus and took the already familiar wooden stick with a sulfur head. He rubbed it on the paper and as a result a fire broke out. But unfortunately, Robert Boyle did not draw any useful conclusion from this.

Chapselle's wooden matches, invented in 1805, had a head made of a mixture of sulfur, bertholite salt, and cinnabar red, which was used to color the head. Such a match was lit either with the help of a magnifying glass from the Sun (remember how in childhood they burned out drawings or set fire to carbon paper), or by dripping concentrated sulfuric acid onto it. His matches were dangerous to use and very expensive.

A little later, in 1827, the English chemist and apothecary John Walker (1781-1859) discovered that if you coat the end of a wooden stick with certain chemicals, then scratch it on a dry surface, the head lights up and sets the stick on fire. The chemicals he used were: antimony sulfide, bertholet's salt, gum and starch. Walker did not patent his "Congreves," as he called the world's first matches that were lit by friction.

An important role in the birth of the match was played by the discovery of white phosphorus made by a retired soldier from Hamburg, Henning Brand, in 1669. After studying the works of famous alchemists of that time, he decided to get gold. As a result of the experiments, a certain light powder was accidentally obtained. This substance had the amazing property of luminescence, and Brand called it “phosphorus,” which translated from Greek means “luminiferous.”

As for Walker, as often happens, the pharmacist invented matches by accident. In 1826, he mixed chemicals using a stick. A dried drop formed at the end of this stick. To remove it, he struck the floor with a stick. Fire broke out! Like all slow-witted people, he did not bother to patent his invention, but demonstrated it to everyone. A guy named Samuel Jones was present at such a demonstration and realized the market value of the invention. He called the matches “Lucifers” and began selling tons of them, despite the fact that there were some problems associated with “Lucifers” - they smelled bad and, when ignited, scattered clouds of sparks around.

He soon released them to the market. The first sale of matches took place on April 7, 1827 in the city of Hikso. Walker made some money from his invention. His matches and "Congreves", however, often exploded and were unpredictably dangerous to handle. He died in 1859, aged 78, and was buried in Norton Parish Church cemetery, Stockton.

However, Samuel Jones soon saw Walker's "Congreves" matches and decided to start selling them as well, calling them "Lucifers". Perhaps due to their name, Lucifers matches became popular, especially among smokers, but they also had an unpleasant odor when burning

There was another problem - the heads of the first matches consisted of only phosphorus, which ignited perfectly, but burned out too quickly and the wooden stick did not always have time to light up. We had to return to the old recipe - a sulfur head and began to apply phosphorus to it to make it easier to set fire to the sulfur, which in turn set fire to the wood. Soon they came up with another improvement to the match head - they began to mix chemicals that release oxygen when heated with phosphorus.

In 1832, dry matches appeared in Vienna. They were invented by L. Trevani; he covered the head of a wooden straw with a mixture of Berthollet salt with sulfur and glue. If you run such a match over sandpaper, the head will ignite, but sometimes this happened with an explosion, and this led to serious burns.

The ways to further improve matches were extremely clear: it was necessary to make the following mixture composition for the match head. so that it lights up calmly. Soon the problem was solved. The new composition included Berthollet salt, white phosphorus and glue. Matches with such a coating could easily ignite on any hard surface, on glass, on the sole of a shoe, on a piece of wood.
The inventor of the first phosphorus matches was a nineteen-year-old Frenchman, Charles Soria. In 1831, a young experimenter added white phosphorus to a mixture of bertholite salt and sulfur to weaken its explosive properties. This idea turned out to be successful, since the matches lubricated with the resulting composition easily ignited when rubbed. The ignition temperature of such matches is relatively low - 30 degrees. The scientist wanted to patent his invention, but for this he had to pay a lot of money, which he did not have. A year later, matches were again created by the German chemist J. Kammerer.

These matches were easily flammable, and therefore caused fires, and besides, white phosphorus is a very toxic substance. Match factory workers suffered from serious illnesses caused by phosphorus fumes.

The first successful recipe for an incendiary mass for making phosphorus matches was apparently invented by the Austrian Irini in 1833. Irini offered it to entrepreneur Remer, who opened a match factory. But it was inconvenient to carry matches in bulk, and then a matchbox with rough paper glued to it was born. Now there was no longer any need to strike a phosphorus match against anything. The only problem was that sometimes the matches in the box caught fire due to friction.

Due to the danger of self-ignition of phosphorus matches, the search began for a more convenient and safe flammable substance. Discovered in 1669 by the German alchemist Brand, white phosphorus was easier to set on fire than sulfur, but its disadvantage was that it was a strong poison and, when burned, gave off a very unpleasant and harmful odor. Match factory workers, having inhaled white phosphorus fumes, became disabled in just a few months. In addition, by dissolving it in water, they obtained a strong poison that could easily kill a person.

In 1847, Schröter discovered red phosphorus, which was no longer poisonous. Thus, the replacement of poisonous white phosphorus in matches with red gradually began. The first combustible mixture based on it was created by the German chemist Betcher. He made a match head using glue from a mixture of sulfur and Berthollet salt, and impregnated the match itself with paraffin. The match burned superbly, but its only drawback was that it did not ignite as before due to friction against a rough surface. Then Boettcher lubricated this surface with a composition containing red phosphorus. When the head of a match was rubbed, the particles of red phosphorus contained in it ignited, ignited the head and the match lit up with an even yellow flame. These matches did not produce any smoke or the unpleasant smell of phosphorus matches.

Boettcher's invention did not initially attract the attention of industrialists. Its matches were first produced in 1851 by the Swedes, the Lundström brothers. In 1855, Johan Edward Lundström patented his matches in Sweden. That’s why “safety matches” began to be called “Swedish”.

The Swede applied red phosphorus to the surface of sandpaper on the outside of a small box and added the same phosphorus to the composition of the match head. Thus, they no longer caused harm to health and were easily ignited on a pre-prepared surface. Safety matches were presented at the International Exhibition in Paris that same year and received a gold medal. From that moment on, the match began its triumphal march around the world. Their main feature was that they did not ignite when rubbed against any hard surface. The Swedish match was lit only if it was rubbed against the side surface of the box, covered with a special mass.

Soon after this, Swedish matches began to spread around the world and soon the production and sale of hazardous phosphorus matches was banned in many countries. After a few decades, the production of phosphorus matches stopped completely.

In America, the history of producing your own matchbox began in 1889. Joshua Pusey from Philadelphia invented his own matchbox and called it Flexibles. To this day, no information has reached us about the number of matches placed in this box. There are two versions - there were 20 or 50. He made the first American matchbox from cardboard using scissors. On a small wood stove, he cooked up a mixture for the match heads and coated the surface of the box with another bright mixture to light them. Beginning in 1892, Pusey spent the next 36 months defending the priority of his discovery in the courts. As often happens with great inventions, the idea was already in the air and at the same time other people were also working on the invention of the matchbox. Pusey's patent was unsuccessfully challenged by the Diamond Match Company, which invented a similar matchbox. An inventor rather than a fighter, in 1896 he agreed to the Diamond Match Company's offer to sell his patent for $4,000 along with a job offer for the company. There was a reason to sue, because already in 1895, match production volumes exceeded 150,000 matchboxes per day.

Pusey went to work for the Diamond Match Company and worked there until his death in 1916. Despite the fact that before 1896 other companies produced similar matchboxes, Pusi's invention received worldwide recognition.

In 1910, in the United States, the same Diamond Match Company patented completely non-poisonous matches that used a safe chemical called sesquisulfide phophoroues.

US President William Taft publicly asked the Diamond Match Company to donate its patent for the benefit of humanity. On January 28, 1911, the US Congress imposed a very high tax on matches made from white phosphorus. This marked the end of the era of phosphorus matches in America.

The earliest known commercial matchbox advertisement in America was created in 1895 and advertised the Mendelson Opera Company. "A cyclone of fun - powerful caste - pretty girls - handsome ward-robe - get seats early." On top of the matchbox was a photograph of the star of this comic troupe, trombonist Thomas Lowden, with the caption "America's Young Opera Comedian." The opera troupe purchased 1 box of matchboxes (about 100 pieces) from the Diamond Match Company and the actors, sitting at night, pasted photographs and their primitive advertising on them. Recently, the only remaining matchbook of 100 made that night sold for $25,000.

This idea was quickly picked up and the focus moved towards a larger business. It turned out to be the Pabst brewery in Milwaukee, which ordered ten million matchboxes.
Next came an advertisement for tobacco king Duke's products. He has already purchased thirty million boxes for his advertising. A moment later, William Wrigley, the king of chewing gum, Wrigley's Chewing Gum, ordered one billion matchboxes advertising his chewing gum.

The idea of ​​advertising on a matchbox came from a young Diamond Match Company salesman, Henry C. Traute. Traute's idea was picked up by other match companies in the United States and it generated huge profits during the first twenty years of the 20th century. In the late 1920s, tens of thousands of advertisers used matchboxes, which became the most popular form of advertising in America.

But the Great Depression came and companies no longer had money to advertise their products. Then the Diamond Match Company came up with the next move and in early 1932 it placed its own advertising on its boxes in the form of photographs of Hollywood movie stars. The "smallest billboard in the world" featured photographs of American film stars: Katharine Hepburn, Slim Sommerville, Richard Arden, Anne Harding, Zazu Pitts, Gloria Stewart, Constance Bennett, Irene Dunne, Frances Dee and George Raft.

The rest was a matter of technique. Following the success of the first series, which sold for pennies, Diamond released matchbooks featuring several hundred national celebrities. Photographs of film and radio stars were supplemented on the back of the matchbox with their brief personal biography.

Next came athletes, patriotic and military advertising, popular American heroes, football, baseball and hockey teams... The idea was picked up all over the world and the matchbox in all countries became a window of advertising and propaganda.

But perhaps the USA became the only country. where in the 40s a free box of matches came with a pack of cigarettes. They were an integral part of every cigarette purchase. The price of a matchbox has not increased in America in fifty years. So the rise and fall of the matchbox in America tracked the number of packs of cigarettes sold.

Matches came to Russia in the 30s of the 19th century and were sold for a hundred silver rubles. Later, the first matchboxes appeared, first wooden, and then tin. Moreover, even then labels were attached to them, which led to the emergence of a whole branch of collecting - phylumenia. The label carried not only information, but also decorated and complemented the matches.

By the time the law was passed in 1848 allowing their production only in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the number of factories producing them reached 30. The following year, only one match factory was operating. In 1859, the monopoly law was repealed and in 1913 there were 251 match factories operating in Russia.

Modern wooden matches are made in two ways: the veneer method (for square matches) and the stamping method (for round matches). Small aspen or pine logs are either chipped or stamped with a match machine. The matches sequentially pass through five baths, in which a general impregnation with a fire-fighting solution is carried out, a ground layer of paraffin is applied to one end of the match to ignite the wood from the match head, a layer forming the head is applied on top of it, a second layer is applied to the tip of the head, the head is also sprayed with a strengthening solution , protecting it from atmospheric influences. A modern match machine (18 meters long and 7.5 meters high) produces up to 10 million matches in an eight-hour shift.

How does a modern match work? The mass of a match head consists of 60% berthollet salt, as well as flammable substances - sulfur or metal sulfides. In order for the head to ignite slowly and evenly, without an explosion, so-called fillers are added to the mass - glass powder, iron (III) oxide, etc. The binding material is glue.

What does the skin coating consist of? The main component is red phosphorus. Manganese (IV) oxide, crushed glass and glue are added to it.

What processes occur when a match is lit? When the head rubs against the skin at the point of contact, red phosphorus ignites due to the oxygen of Berthollet salt. Figuratively speaking, fire is initially born in the skin. He lights the match head. Sulfur or sulfide flares up in it, again due to the oxygen of Berthollet salt. And then the tree catches fire.

The word “match” itself comes from the plural form of the word “spoke” (a pointed wooden stick). The word originally meant wooden shoe nails, and this meaning of "match" still exists in a number of dialects. The matches used to start fire were initially called “incendiary (or samogar) matches.”

In 1922, all factories in the USSR were nationalized, but their number after the devastation became an order of magnitude smaller. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the USSR produced about 55 boxes of matches per person. At the beginning of the war, most match factories were located in the territory occupied by the Germans and a match crisis began in the country. Huge demands for matches fell on the eight remaining match factories. In the USSR, lighters began to be produced en masse. After the war, the production of matches quickly picked up again.

The price for matches was minimal and after the monetary reform of 1961 it invariably amounted to 1 kopeck. After the collapse of the USSR, like other factories and factories, match factories suffered massive bankruptcy.

Today, matches are again not in short supply and the cost of a box (about 60 matches) is 1 ruble. In addition to the familiar regular matches, the following varieties continue to be produced in Russia:

Gas - gas burners used for ignition.
Decorative (gift and collectible) - sets of matchboxes with various designs, often with colored heads.
Fireplaces with very long sticks for lighting fireplaces.
Signal - which give a bright and far visible colored flame when burning.
Thermal - when these matches burn, a greater amount of heat is released, and their burning temperature is much higher than a regular match (300 degrees Celsius).
Photographic - giving an instant bright flash when photographing.
Household supplies in large packaging.
Storm or hunting matches - these matches are not afraid of dampness; they can burn in the wind and in the rain.

In Russia, 99% of all matches produced are aspen matchsticks. Rubbed matches of various types are the main type of matches throughout the world. Stemless (sesquisulfide) matches were invented in 1898 by French chemists Saven and Caen and are produced mainly in English-speaking countries, mainly for military needs. The basis of the rather complex composition of the head is non-toxic phosphorus sesquisulfide and Berthollet salt.

Something else from the “how it was” series for you: for example, you already know , is it familiar to you? Well, here’s what you should know for sure. The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -