valley views A brief history of the humble match C
ommonplace items and their history have nearly an unmatched grip on my curiosity. What I find most striking are the accidental and unexpected origins that make me say “Wait, what?” Hopefully, this spark of curiosity will inspire you, too. I hope the wordplay is not more than you can “candle,” but it is time to shed some light on the origins of the humble match. Prior to the advent of the match, people used various implements for their ignition needs. All had significant drawbacks: flint and steel were hard to control; igniting by directing sun’s rays with a large magnifying glass to start a flame was inoperable at night. A whole host of other tools existed as well, but you get the idea. In 1805, with the invention of the first lighter, interest was sparked. In that same
year, Jean Chancel of Paris one of the wooden sticks created the first match he had used to mix a paste that would ignite when ignited when it scraped dipped into an asbestos against the stone of the bottle of sulfuric acid. fireplace hearth. Instead of As you can burning out imagine, this quickly, the was far from dried paste safe and on the stick never caught burned long on. Various enough to other inventransfer the tors would flame to take their the wood. ben there own stabs Walker had at creating his spark of DONE that an easy and inspiration. Ben Stone Media Production, Valley Journal convenient Walker sparking produced stick. However, more and sold his matches; the ideas didn’t catch fire until matches were in boxes of about 20 years after the 50 and included a folded first match. piece of sandpaper. To In 1826, John Walker, strike a match, the cusan English pharmacist tomer was instructed to and chemist, was experplace the match in the imenting with various middle of the sandpaper chemical pastes involving and pull it out quickly. sulfur. His aim was to cre- The added friction from ate something that could the sandpaper would be used with firearms. The ignite the paste-coated breakthrough came when tip. While these friction
matches were a huge leap forward, they were not without their faults. Occasionally, the dried paste on the end of the match would come loose in the act of striking. A small fireball would be sent streaming to the floor where it could easily light a carpet or woman’s skirt on fire. As a result, both France and Germany banned them outright. While this threatened to extinguish the match’s development, the light was not ready to go out. Walker never patented his invention, leaving the door wide open for more inventors to undertake their hand at making matches. In 1829, Sir Isaac Holden utilized John Walker’s concepts to produce matches with a significant punch. With the help of a London-based chemist, Samuel Jones, the manufacturing of these new matches began under the
rather on-the-nose name, “Lucifers.” These new matches were more effective at starting fires, but they were still inconsistent and dangerous. Lucifers were far from perfect; however, they did succeed in advancing the concept of the match into the mainstream. Many other enterprising tinkerers would endeavor to crack the match-making code. A 15-year arms race in making matches generated numerous designs and formulations. A winner finally triumphed from Sweden, of all places. In 1844, Gustaf Erik Pasch create a match using red phosphorous that could only be ignited when struck against a specially prepared surface on the side of the box. This solved the long-standing safety issues once and for all. The Swedes held a near monopoly on safety
Library hosts ice cream, prize drawing at Sacajawea Park W
e’re into the final days of the annual Summer Reading Program. You must register and log all of your reading no later than Aug. 13. Be sure to come into the library to pick up your level coupons and enter your tickets for the prize drawing before Thursday, Aug. 18. On
10 - August 10, 2022
Aug. 18, join us in SaOur favorite reading cajawea Park at 10 a.m. pal, Riley, will be taking for ice cream August with toppings off to cool and our prize down and drawing. You get ready don’t have to for back-tobe present school time. Abbi Dooley, Therapy dog to win – but North Lake County Public who wants to Library District Riley will be all ears miss out on again in September on ice cream for breakfast?
View from the Library
Wednesdays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. “Pawsitive Reading Partners” encourages children to read to Riley the golden retriever, which helps build their confidence. Riley is a great listener and reading to a therapy dog can ease nerves about reading aloud. Be sure to sign up for a time slot.
Valley Journal
Lizzy’s Lavender Painting program was such a hit, that we’re doing it all over again. The program is Tuesday, Aug. 16 at 11 a.m. There is a limit of 20 people, so get signed up early. All supplies are provided. The program lasts about an hour. see page 11
matches for years. The rights to these safety matches were eventually licensed to manufacturers in the UK and USA before becoming ubiquitous. The result? The humble, commonplace match now lights our candles and campfires!
LETTER POLICY
Letters to the editor are welcome. The content is the opinion of the letter writer and not the newspaper. The decision to publish letters is made by the editor. Letters must be 350 words or less. A writer will only be published twice per month. Letters may be edited for content or length, or may not be published if considered libelous, in poor taste, spiteful, self-promotional or of limited interest to the general readership. Space limitations also dictate when or if letters are published. Letters must be signed by the author and name, address and phone number must be included – phone number is for verification purposes only. Letters from organizations must include the name of at least one author. Please limit “thank you” letters to four people/organizations or less. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday to publish the following week. Opinions expressed in this section are not necessarily those of the newspaper.
