The first real matches were invented on April 10, 1833, when yellow phosphorus was introduced into the match head mass. It is this day that is considered the birthday of the first match.
In Russian, the word "match" is derived from the old Russian word "matches" - the plural form of the word "spoke" (a pointed wooden stick). Originally, this word meant wooden nails that were used in the manufacture of shoes (for attaching the sole).
At first, the phrase "incendiary (or self-made) matches" was used to designate matches, and only after the widespread distribution of matches did the first word begin to drop, and then completely disappeared from everyday life.
Work of the match factory "Pobeda" in the village of Verkhniy Lomov. Photo: RIA Novosti / Yulia Chestnova
Most matchmaking businesses make them from aspen. In addition to this type of wood, linden, poplar and other trees are also used. A special machine for making matches in an eight-hour working day can produce up to 10 million copies.
When we rub the head of a match against the wall of the box, a series of chemical reactions begins. The boxes are coated with a paste. It consists of red phosphorus, fillers and glue. With friction, particles of red phosphorus turn into white, it heats up and lights up already at 50 degrees. The box lights up first, not the match. So that the spread on the box does not burn out all at once, phlegmatizers are introduced into its composition. They absorb some of the heat generated.
Half of the mass of the head is oxidizing agents, in particular, Berthollet's salt. When decomposed, it easily releases oxygen. To lower the decomposition temperature of berthollet's salt, a catalyst, manganese dioxide, is added to the composition of the mass. The main fuel is sulfur. So that the head does not burn out too quickly and does not fly apart, fillers are added to the mass: ground glass, zinc white, red lead. All this is tied together with different adhesives.
In addition to ordinary (household) matches, there are about 100 types of special matches, differing in size, color, composition and degree of combustion.
The most common types are:
Storm - they burn even under water and in the wind (wind, hunting);
Thermal - they can be soldered (welded), since they emit a large amount of heat;
Signal - capable of emitting a colored flame;
Fireplace and gas - long matches for kindling fireplaces and gas stoves;
Decorative (souvenir) - gift matches, often have a colored head;
Photographic - used to create instant flash.
Tourist matches. Photo: RIA Novosti / Anton Denisov
Matches are intended for:
Receiving an open fire in a domestic environment;
Lighting a fire, stoves, primus stoves, kerosene stoves;
Lighting stearic and wax candles;
Lighting up cigarettes, cigars, etc.
Also, matches are used for other purposes:
For practicing applied arts when building houses, castles, for making decorative crafts;
For hygiene purposes (for cleaning the ear canals of the auricles);
For the repair of radio, audio and video equipment (matches wrapped in a cotton swab and soaked in alcohol are used to wipe hard-to-reach places of equipment).
"Tsar-match" 7.5 meters long, which was made in the city of Chudovo. The product claims to be entered in the Guinness Book of Records. Photo: RIA Novosti / Mikhail Mordasov
1. Matches with multi-colored heads (red, blue, brown, green, etc.), contrary to the existing myth, differ from each other only in color. They burn exactly the same.
2. The combustible mass for matches was once prepared from white phosphorus. But then it turned out that this substance was harmful to health - the smoke formed during combustion was poisonous, and for suicide it was enough to eat just one match head.
3. The first Russian match manufactory was registered in 1837 in St. Petersburg. In Moscow, the first factory appeared in 1848. At first, matches were made from white phosphorus. Safe red phosphorus was only used in 1874.
4. A matchbox of the Soviet / Russian model in accordance with GOST has a length of exactly 5 cm, which allows you to measure the size of objects with it.
5.Using a match, you can remove the ink stain from the oilcloth. To do this, slightly moisten the dirty surface of the glued tablecloth and rub the stain with the head of a match. After the pollution has disappeared, grease the oilcloth with olive oil and then wipe it with a cotton swab.
Matches are relatively recent inventions. Before the modern match flashed in human hands, many different discoveries took place, each of which made its own significant contribution to the evolutionary path of this object. When were the matches? Who were they created by? What path of becoming did you overcome? Where were matches first invented? And what facts does history hide?
For a long time, fire has been given a place of honor in the daily life of a person. He played an important role in our development. Fire is one of the elements of the universe. For ancient people, it was a phenomenon, and they did not even know about its practical application. The ancient Greeks, for example, protected fire as a shrine, passing it on to people.
But cultural development did not stand still, and they learned not only to use fire effectively, but also to extract it on their own. Thanks to the bright flame, the dwellings became warm all year round, the food was cooked and tasted better, the smelting of iron, copper, gold and silver began to develop actively. The first dishes made of clay and ceramics also owe their appearance to fire.
As you already understood, fire was first produced by man many millennia ago. How did our ancestors do it? Simple enough: they took two pieces of wood and began to rub them, while the wood pollen and sawdust were heated to such an extent that spontaneous combustion was inevitable.
The "wood" fire was replaced by flint. It is a spark produced by striking steel or flint. Then these sparks were ignited with some combustible substance, and the same famous flint was obtained - a lighter in its original form. It turns out that the lighter was invented before matches. The difference between their birthdays was three years.
Also, the ancient Greeks and Romans knew another method of producing fire - by focusing the sun's rays with a lens or a concave mirror.
In 1823, a new device was invented - the Deberayer incendiary apparatus. Its principle of operation was based on the use of the ability to ignite on contact with spongy platinum. So when were modern matches invented? Let's take a closer look at this issue.
A significant contribution to the invention of modern matches was made by the German scientist A. Gankvatz. Thanks to his ingenuity, matches with a sulfur coating appeared for the first time, which ignited when rubbed against a piece of phosphorus. The shape of such matches was extremely inconvenient and required improvement as soon as possible.
Before we figure out who invented matches, let's find out the meaning of this concept and its origin.
The word "match" has old Russian roots. Its predecessor is the word "knitting needle" - a stick with a pointed end, a splinter.
Initially, knitting needles were nails made of wood, the main purpose of which was to attach the sole to the shoe.
When modern matches were invented - the moment is quite controversial. This is due to the fact that until the second half of the 19th century, there was no International as such, and different countries of Europe were the basis for various chemical discoveries at the same time.
The question of who invented the matches is much clearer. The history of their appearance owes its origin to the French chemist K.L.Berthollet. His key discovery is salt, which, when in contact with sulfuric acid, releases a tremendous amount of heat. Subsequently, this discovery became the basis of the scientific activity of Jean Chancel, thanks to whose works the first matches were invented - a wooden stick, the tip of which was coated with a mixture of Berthollet's salt, sulfur, sugar and resin. Such a device was ignited by pressing the head of a match against asbestos, previously impregnated with a concentrated solution of sulfuric acid.
John Walker became their inventor. He slightly changed the components of the match head: + gum + antimony sulfide. To light such matches, there was no need to interact with sulfuric acid. These were dry sticks, for the ignition of which it was enough to strike on any rough surface: paper with an emery coating, a grater, crushed glass. The length of the matches was 91 cm, and their packaging was a special case, in which you can put 100 pieces. They smelled awful. They were first produced in 1826.
In what year were phosphorus matches invented? Perhaps, it is worth associating their appearance with 1831, when the French chemist Charles Soria added to the incendiary mixture.Thus, the components of the match head included Berthollet's salt, glue, white phosphorus. Any friction was sufficient for the improved match to strike.
The main disadvantage was the high degree of fire hazard. Was eliminated one of the shortcomings of sulfur matches - an unbearable smell. But they were harmful to health due to the release of phosphorus fumes. Workers of enterprises and factories were exposed to serious illnesses. Considering the latter, in 1906 it was forbidden to use phosphorus as one of the constituent components of a match.
Swedish products are nothing more than modern matches. The year of their invention came 50 years after the very first match saw the light of day. Instead of phosphorus, red phosphorus was included in the incendiary mixture. A similar composition based on red phosphorus was used to cover the side of the box. Such matches caught fire only when interacting with the phosphoric spraying of their container. They did not pose any danger to human health and were fireproof. The Swedish chemist Johan Lundström is considered the creator of modern matches.
In 1855, the Paris International Exhibition took place, at which the highest award was given to the Swedish matches. A little later, phosphorus was completely excluded from the components of the incendiary mixture, but it remained on the surface of the box to this day.
Aspen is usually used in the manufacture of modern matches. The composition of the incendiary mass includes sulfur sulfides, metal paraffins, oxidants, manganese dioxide, glue, glass powder. In the manufacture of the coating for the sides of the box, red phosphorus, antimony sulfide, iron oxide, manganese dioxide, calcium carbonate are used.
The first box of matches was not a cardboard box at all, but a metal box-chest. There was no label, and the name of the manufacturer was indicated on a stamp, which was placed on the lid or on the side of the package.
The first phosphorus matches could be lit by friction. At the same time, absolutely any surface was suitable: from clothes to the matchbox itself.
A matchbox made according to Russian state standards is exactly 5 centimeters long, so it can be used to accurately measure objects.
A match is often used as a determinant of the dimensional characteristics of various objects, which can only be seen in the photograph.
The indicators of the dynamics of the production turnover of matches in the world are 30 billion boxes per year.
There are several types of matches: gas, decorative, fireplace, signal, thermal, photographic, household, hunting.
When modern matches were invented, at the same time a special container for them - boxes - came into active use. Who would have thought that this would become one of the promising marketing moves of the time. These packages featured advertisements. The first commercial advertisement on a matchbox was created in America by the Diamond Match Company in 1895, which advertised the Mendelson Opera Company. On the visible part of the box was an image of their trombonist. Incidentally, the last remaining promotional matchbox made at the time sold just recently for $ 25,000.
The idea of advertising on a matchbox was received with a bang and became widespread in the business field. Matchboxes were used to advertise the Pabst brewery in Milwaukee, the tobacco King Duke products, and Wrigley's Chewing Gum. Looking through the boxes, we got to know the stars, national celebrities, athletes, etc.
Matches are a relatively recent invention of mankind; they replaced flint about two centuries ago, when looms were already working, trains and steamers were running. But it wasn't until 1844 that safety matches were announced.
Before a match flashed in the hands of a human being, many events took place, 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 in northern China (550-577). The courtiers were in a military siege and were left without fire, they invented them from sulfur.
But let's find out the history of this everyday little thing in more detail ...
These matches are described by Tao Gu in his book Evidence for the Extraordinary and the Supernatural (c. 950):
“If something unexpected happens overnight, it takes some time. A shrewd person simplified the small sticks of pine by impregnating it with sulfur. They were ready to use. All that remains is to rub them on an uneven surface. The result was a flame as large as an ear of wheat. This miracle is called "a slave clothed with light." But when I started selling them, I called them sticks of fire. " In 1270, matches were already freely sold in the market in Hangzhou.
In Europe, matches were invented only in 1805 by the French chemist Chancell, although already in 1680 the Irish physicist Robert Boyle (who discovered Boyle's law) covered a small leaf with phosphorus and took a wooden stick with a sulfur head already known to us. He rubbed it on paper and a fire broke out as a result.
The word "match" comes from the old Russian word knitting needle - a pointed wooden stick, or a splinter. Initially, knitting needles were the names of wooden nails used to attach the sole to the shoe. At first in Russia, matches were called "incendiary, or self-made matches".
Sticks for matches are both wooden (soft woods are used - linden, aspen, poplar, American white pine ...), and cardboard and wax (paraffin-impregnated cotton cord).
Collecting match labels, boxes, matches themselves and other related items is called phylumenia. And their collectors are called philumenists.
According to the ignition method, matches are grated, which ignite when rubbed against the surface of a matchbox, and unbeaten, which ignite on any surface (remember how Charlie Chaplin lit a match on his trousers).
In ancient times, to start a fire, our ancestors used the rubbing of wood on wood, then they began to use flint and invented flint. But even with it, kindling a fire took time, a certain skill and effort. Striking steel on flint, they carved a spark that fell on the tinder impregnated with tinder. He began to smolder and already from him, with the help of dry kindling, they fanned the fire
The next invention was the impregnation of a dry torch with molten sulfur. When the sulfur head was pressed against the smoldering tinder, it flared up. And from her they set fire to the hearth. This is how the prototype of the modern match appeared.
In 1669, white phosphorus, which is highly flammable from friction, was discovered and was used in the production of the first match heads.
In 1680, the Irish physicist Robert Boyle (1627-1691 who discovered Boyle's law) covered a small leaf with such phosphorus and took the wooden stick with a sulfur head already known to us. He rubbed it on the paper and a fire broke out as a result. But unfortunately, Robert Boyle did not draw any useful conclusion from this.
Chapsel's wooden matches, invented in 1805, had a head made of a mixture of sulfur, berthollet's salt, and cinnabar, which was used to paint the head red. 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 a carbon copy), or when concentrated sulfuric acid dripped onto it. His matches were dangerous to use and very expensive.
A little later, in 1827, the English chemist and pharmacist John Walker (1781-1859) discovered that if you cover the end of a wooden stick with certain chemicals, then striking it on a dry surface, the head lights up and sets fire to the stick. The chemicals he used were antimony sulfide, berthollet's salt, gum, and starch. Walker did not patent his Congreves, as he called the world's first friction matches, which he invented.
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 an amazing ability to glow, and Brand called it "phosphorus", which means "luminiferous" in Greek.
As for Walker, as is often the case, the pharmacist invented matches by accident. In 1826, he mixed chemicals with a stick. A dried drop has 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 "Lucifer" and began to sell them in tons, despite the fact that some problems were associated with the "Lucifer" - 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 with his invention. His matches n Congreves, however, often exploded and were unpredictably dangerous to handle. He died in 1859 at the age of 78 and was buried in the cemetery of the Norton Parish Church in Stockton.
Soon, however, Samuel Jones saw the Congreves Walker's matches and decided to start selling them as well, calling them Lucifers. Perhaps because of their name, Lucifers matches became popular, especially among smokers, but they also had an unpleasant smell when burned.
There was one more problem - the head of the first matches consisted of one phosphorus, which ignited perfectly, but burned out too quickly and the wooden stick did not always have time to catch fire. I had to go back to the old recipe - a sulfur head, and they 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 of the match head - chemicals that release oxygen when heated were added to 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 hold such a match on sandpaper, then the head ignites, but sometimes it happened with an explosion, and this led to serious burns.
The ways to further improve the matches were very clear: it was necessary to make such a mixture for the match head. so that it lights up calmly. The problem was soon resolved. The new composition consisted of berthollet's salt, white phosphorus and glue. Matches with such a coating would easily ignite on any hard surface, on glass, on the soles of shoes, on a piece of wood.
Nineteen-year-old Frenchman Charles Soria turned out to be the inventor of the first phosphorus matches. In 1831, a young experimenter added white phosphorus to a mixture of berthollet's salt and sulfur to weaken its explosive properties. This idea turned out to be successful, since the splinters smeared 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, the matches were re-created by the German chemist J. Kammerer.
These matches were highly flammable matches, so they caused fires, and besides, white phosphorus is a very poisonous substance. The workers in the match factories suffered from serious illnesses caused by phosphorus fumes.
The first successful recipe for an incendiary mass for the manufacture of phosphorus matches was apparently invented by the Austrian Irini in 1833. Irini offered it to the entrepreneur Roemer, who opened a match factory. But it was inconvenient to carry matches in bulk, and then a matchbox with rough paper glued to it appeared. Now there was no need to strike anything with a phosphorus match. The only problem was that sometimes matches would catch fire from friction in the box.
In connection with the danger of spontaneous 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 the strongest poison and, when burned, gave a very unpleasant and harmful odor. Workers of match factories, breathed in white phosphorus vapors, literally in a few months turned into invalids. In addition, dissolving it in water, they received the strongest poison, which could easily kill a person.
In 1847, Schroeter discovered red phosphorus, which was no longer poisonous. So gradually began replacing the poisonous white phosphorus in matches with red. The first combustible mixture based on it was created by the German chemist Betcher. He made the head of a match based on glue from a mixture of sulfur and berthollet's salt, and impregnated the match with paraffin. The match burned great, but its only drawback was that it did not ignite as before from friction on a rough surface. Then Beetcher smeared this surface with a compound containing red phosphorus. When rubbing the head of the match, the particles of red phosphorus contained in it ignited, set the head on fire and the match lit up with an even yellow flame. These matches produced neither smoke nor the foul odor of phosphorus matches.
Betcher's invention did not initially attract the attention of industrialists. For the first time, his matches began to be produced in 1851 by the Swedes brothers Lundstrem. In 1855, Johan Edward Lundstrom patented his matches in Sweden. Therefore, "safety matches" and began to be called "Swedish".
The Swede applied red phosphorus to the surface of the sandpaper on the outside of the small box and added the same phosphorus to the head of the match. Thus, they were no longer harmful to health and were easily ignited on a pre-prepared surface. Safety matches in the same year were presented at the International Exhibition in Paris and received a gold medal. From that moment on, the match began a triumphal procession around the world. Their main feature was that they did not ignite when rubbed against any hard surface. A Swedish match was lit only if it was rubbed against the side surface of the box, covered with a special compound.
Soon thereafter, Swedish matches began to spread around the world and soon the manufacture and sale of hazardous phosphorus matches was banned in many countries. After a few decades, the production of phosphorus matches completely ceased.
In America, the history of producing their own matchbox began in 1889. Joshua Pusey of Philadelphia invented his matchbox and called it Flexibles. To this day, no information has come down about the number of matches that fit 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-burning stove, he cooked the match head mixture and covered the surface of the box with another bright mixture to light the match. Beginning in 1892, Pusey spent the next 36 months defending the priority of his discovery in the courts. As often happened 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. Pusi'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 an offer from the Diamond Match Company to sell his patent to her for $ 4,000, along with an offer to work for the company. There was a reason to sue, because already in 1895 the production of matches exceeded 150,000 matchboxes per day.
Pusi went to work for the Diamond Match Company and remained there until his death in 1916. Despite the fact that until 1896 other companies made similar matchboxes, Pusi's invention received worldwide recognition.
In 1910, the same Diamond Match Company patented a completely non-toxic match in the United States that used a safe chemical called sesquisulfide phophoroues.
US President William Taft has publicly asked the Diamond Match Company to transfer 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 was 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." Above the matchbox was a photograph of the comic troupe's star, 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 advertisements on them. Recently, the only remaining box of 100 matches made that night sold for $ 25,000.
This idea was quickly picked up and the orientation went to a larger business. It turned out to be Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee, which ordered ten million matchboxes.
The next was an advertisement for the products of the tobacco king Duke. He has already purchased thirty million boxes for his advertising. Moments later, William Wrigley, the king of Wrigley's Chewing Gum, ordered one billion matchboxes to advertise his gum.
The idea to advertise on a matchbox came from a young Diamond Match Company salesman, Henry C. Traute. Trout's idea was taken up by other match-making companies in the United States and generated huge profits during the first twenty years of the 20th century. In the late 1920s, tens of thousands of advertisers were using matchboxes, which became the most popular form of advertising in America.
But the Great Depression came and the 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 advertisements on its boxes in the form of photographs of Hollywood movie stars. The "smallest billboard in the world," featured photographs of American movie stars: Katharine Hepburn, Slim Sommerville, Richard Arden, Anne Harding, Zazu Pitts, Gloria Stewart, Constance Bennett, Irene Dunn, Francis Dee and George Raft.
The rest was already a matter of technology. Following the success of the first-ever-selling series for pennies, Diamond released matchboxes featuring several hundred national celebrities. Photos of movie and radio stars were added on the back of the matchbox with their brief personal biography.
Then came sportsmen, patriotic and military advertisements, 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 for advertising and agitation.
But perhaps the United States has become the only country. where in the 40s a free box of matches was attached to a pack of cigarettes. They have been 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 ruble in silver for a hundred .. Later, the first matchboxes appeared, first wooden, and then tin. Moreover, even then labels were glued on them, which led to the emergence of a whole branch of collecting - phylumenia. The label carried not only information, but also decorated and supplemented the matches.
The number of factories that produced them reached 30 by the time the law came out in 1848 allowing their production only in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The following year, only one match factory was operating. In 1859 the monopoly law was abolished and in 1913 there were 251 match factories in Russia.
Modern wooden matches are made in two ways: veneer (for square matches) and stamp (for round matches). Small aspen or pine logs are either chipped or stamped with a match machine. Matches pass sequentially through five baths, in which a general impregnation with a fire-fighting solution is carried out, a paraffin soil layer is applied to one end of the match to ignite the wood from the match head, a layer forming a head is applied on top of it, a second layer is applied to the head tip, the head is still sprayed with a hardening 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 is 60% composed of Berthollet's salt, as well as combustible substances - sulfur or metal sulfides. In order for the ignition of the head to occur slowly and evenly, without an explosion, so-called fillers are added to the mass - glass powder, iron (III) oxide, etc. The bonding material is glue.
And what does the skin smear 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 rub against the skin at the point of their contact, red phosphorus ignites due to the oxygen of the berthollet salt. Figuratively speaking, fire is originally born in the skin. He also sets fire to the head of the match. Sulfur or sulfide flares up in it, again due to the oxygen of the berthollet salt. And only then the tree lights up.
The word "match" itself comes from the plural form of the word "knitting needle" (a pointed wooden stick). Initially, this word meant wooden shoe nails, in this meaning "matches" still exist in a number of dialects. The matches used to extract fire were originally called "incendiary (or self-made) matches".
In 1922, all factories in the USSR were nationalized, but after the devastation their number became much less. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, about 55 boxes of matches were produced in the USSR per person. At the beginning of the war, most of the match factories ended up on the territory occupied by the Germans and a match crisis began in the country. Huge match requirements fell on the eight remaining match factories. In the USSR, lighters began to be produced in large quantities. After the war, match production quickly recovered again.
The price of matches was minimal, and after the monetary reform of 1961 it invariably stood at 1 kopeck. After the collapse of the USSR, like other factories and plants, matchboxes were subjected to massive bankruptcy.
Today matches again do not represent a deficit and the cost of a box (about 60 matches) is 1 ruble. In addition to the familiar ordinary matches, the following varieties are still produced in Russia:
Gas - gas burners used for ignition.
Decorative (gift and collectible) - sets of boxes of matches with various patterns, often with colored heads.
Fireplaces with very long sticks to ignite fireplaces.
Signal - which give, when burning, a bright and far-visible colored flame.
Thermal - when these matches burn, more 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 in a large package.
Storm or hunting matches - these matches are not afraid of damp, they can burn in the wind and in the rain.
In Russia, 99% of all produced matches are aspen grated matches. Various types of grated matches are the main type of matches all over the world. Sesquisulfide matches were invented in 1898 by the French chemists Saven and Caen and are produced mainly in English-speaking countries, mainly for military needs. The rather complex composition of the head is based on non-toxic phosphorus sesquisulfide and berthollet's salt.
Something else from the series "how it was" for you: for example, you already know , and whether you are familiar. Well, what you should know for sure. The original article is on the site InfoGlaz.rf The link to the article this copy was made from is
Matches were invented relatively recently - at the beginning of the 19th century. Until this time, fire was produced in a different way. Instead of a box of matches, people carried in their pocket a small box with three objects: a piece of steel, a small pebble, and a piece of something like a sponge. If you asked what it is, you would be told that steel is flint, a pebble is flint, and a piece of sponge is rubbing.
A whole bunch of things instead of one match!
How, then, was the fire made?
Here sits a fat man in a colorful dressing gown, with a long pipe in his teeth. In one hand he holds flint, in the other flint and tinder. He hits a flint with a flint. No result! Again. Again, nothing. Again. A spark jumps out of the flint, but the tinder does not ignite. Finally, for the fourth or fifth time, the tinder flares up.
As a matter of fact, this is the same lighter. There is also a pebble in the lighter, there is a piece of steel - a wheel, there is also a tinder - a wick soaked in gasoline.
Striking fire is not easy. At least when European travelers wanted to teach Greenlandic Eskimos how to make fire in this way, the Eskimos refused. They thought that their old method was better: they produced fire by friction, like primitive people, by rotating a stick placed on a piece of dry wood with a belt. Wood spontaneously ignites at 300 degrees - imagine how much effort it takes to heat a wooden stick to that temperature!
The Europeans themselves were also not averse to replacing flint and flint with something more convenient. All sorts of "chemical flint" appeared on sale every now and then, each more sophisticated than the other.
So, there were matches that ignited when touched by sulfuric acid. The head of such a match consisted of a mixture of sulfur, berthollet's salt (KClO 3) and cinnabar. In 1813, in Vienna, Maliard and Wieck registered the first match factory in Austria-Hungary for the production of chemical matches. The disadvantage of this type of match is obvious: you should always have sulfuric acid, an unsafe chemical, on hand.
There were matches with a glass head, which had to be crushed with tongs for the match to break out; there were, finally, whole glass devices of a very complex device.
In 1826, the English chemist and pharmacist John Walker invented sulfur matches, and he did it, as often happens, quite by accident. Walker was interested in ways to get fire quickly, but without exploding, so that this fire could slowly transfer to wood from the flammable mixture. Once he mixed chemicals with a stick, and a dried drop formed on the end of the stick. To remove it, he struck the floor with a stick. Fire broke out! Walker immediately appreciated the practical value of his discovery and began to experiment, and then to produce matches. One box contained 50 matches, and it cost 1 shilling. Each box came with a piece of sandpaper folded in half. Walker named his matches "Congreves" after inventor William Congreve.
On April 7, 1827, Walker had his first commercial deal: he sold the first sulfur matches to the lawyer Nixon.
The heads in John Walker's matches consisted of a mixture of antimony sulfide, berthollet's salt and gum arabic, a viscous substance that acacia secrete (also called gum). When such a match is rubbed against sandpaper or other rather rough surface, its head easily ignites.
Box of matches - "Lucifer"
Walker's matches, when they burned out, left a bad memory in the form of a nasty sulfur dioxide gas, scattered around them when ignited by clouds of sparks and were a whole yard long (about 90 cm).
The matches did not bring Walker fame or fortune. Walker did not want to patent his invention, although many persuaded him about this, for example, Michael Faraday. But a guy named Samuel Jones, who once attended a demonstration of the "congrivia", estimated the market value of the invention. He called the matches "Lucifer", and began to sell them in tons - "Lucifer" were in demand, despite all their shortcomings. These matches were packed in tin cases of 100 pieces.
This continued until, in 1830, a young French chemist Charles Soria invented phosphorus matches, which consisted of a mixture of berthollet's salt, white phosphorus and glue.
Charles Sauria
Phosphorus is a substance that ignites at the slightest heat - only up to 60 degrees. It would seem that there is no better material for matches. However, this advantage of phosphorus matches turned out to be their main disadvantage. To light a match, it was enough to strike it against the wall or even the bootleg. What is there to strike - such matches caught fire even from mutual friction in the box during transportation! There was even an anecdote in England: a whole match says to another, half-burnt: "You see how your bad habit of scratching your head ends!"
When the match caught fire, an explosion occurred. The head flew apart like a small bomb.
Much worse was the fact that matches with white phosphorus are very poisonous. The production of such matches was harmful: the workers of match factories, from the fumes of white phosphorus, acquired the most serious disease - bone necrosis. The suicides of that time solved their problem very easily, simply by eating a few match heads. What can we say about the numerous poisoning with phosphorus matches due to careless handling!
Another 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. The solution was found in the invention of phosphorus-sulfur matches, the head of which was made in two stages - first, the stalk was dipped in a mixture of sulfur, wax or stearin, a small amount of berthollet's salt and glue, and then in a mixture of white phosphorus, berthollet's salt and glue. A flash of phosphorus ignited a more slowly burning mixture of sulfur and wax, and it ignited the stem of a match.
Phosphorus matches had one more drawback - extinguished match cuttings continued to smolder, which often led to fires. This problem was solved by impregnating the stalk of a match with ammonium phosphate (NH 4 H 2 PO 4). Such matches began to be called impregnated (eng. impregnated- impregnated) and later - safe. For stable burning of the cutting, they began to impregnate it with wax or stearin (later - paraffin).
In 1853, "safe" or "Swedish" matches finally appeared, which we still use today. This became possible as a result of the discovery in 1847 of red phosphorus, which, unlike white, is not poisonous. Red phosphorus was obtained by the Austrian chemist A. Schrötter by heating white phosphorus at 500 ° C in an atmosphere of carbon monoxide (CO) in a sealed glass ampoule. Swedish chemist Johan Lundström applied red phosphorus to the surface of sandpaper and replaced white phosphorus in the head of a match with it. Such matches were no longer harmful to health, they were easily ignited on a previously prepared surface and practically did not ignite spontaneously. Johan Lundström patented the first "Swedish match", which has survived to this day almost unchanged.
Johan Lundström's younger brother, Karl Frans Lundström (1823-1917) was an entrepreneur with many daring ideas. The brothers founded a match factory in Jonkoping as early as 1844-1845. In the early years of its existence, the Lundström brothers' factory produced matches from yellow phosphorus. The production of safety matches began in 1853, when Karl Frans Lundström began exporting matches to England.
The Lundström matches were a great success at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1855, receiving a silver medal for the fact that the way they were made did not threaten the health of workers. But due to the fact that the matches were quite expensive, commercial success came to the brothers only in 1868. In the first years after its founding, the Lundström factory produced 4,400 matchboxes a year, and in 1896 there were already seven million of them! This is how the Swedish match conquered the whole world.
References:
1. M. Ilyin. "Stories about things"
2. Wikipedia.org
3.tekniskamuseet.se
Match - a stick (stalk, straw) made of combustible material, equipped at the end with an ignition head, which serves to produce an open fire.
Matches are a relatively recent invention of mankind; they replaced flint about two centuries ago, when looms were already working, trains and steamers were running. But it wasn't until 1844 that safety matches were announced.
Before a match flashed in the hands of a human being, many events took place, 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 in northern China (550-577). The courtiers were in a military siege and were left without fire, they invented them from sulfur.
But let's find out the history of this everyday little thing in more detail ...
These matches are described by Tao Gu in his book Evidence for the Extraordinary and the Supernatural (c. 950):
“If something unexpected happens overnight, it takes some time. A shrewd person simplified the small sticks of pine by impregnating it with sulfur. They were ready to use. All that remains is to rub them on an uneven surface. The result was a flame as large as an ear of wheat. This miracle is called "a slave clothed with light." But when I started selling them, I called them sticks of fire. " In 1270, matches were already freely sold in the market in Hangzhou.
In Europe, matches were invented only in 1805 by the French chemist Chancell, although already in 1680 the Irish physicist Robert Boyle (who discovered Boyle's law) covered a small leaf with phosphorus and took a wooden stick with a sulfur head already known to us. He rubbed it on the paper and a fire broke out as a result.
The word "match" comes from the old Russian word knitting needle - a pointed wooden stick, or a splinter. Initially, knitting needles were the names of wooden nails used to attach the sole to the shoe. At first in Russia, matches were called "incendiary, or self-made matches".
Sticks for matches are both wooden (soft woods are used - linden, aspen, poplar, American white pine ...), and cardboard and wax (paraffin-impregnated cotton cord).
Collecting match labels, boxes, matches themselves and other related items is called phylumenia. And their collectors are called philumenists.
According to the ignition method, matches are grated, which ignite when rubbed against the surface of a matchbox, and unbeaten, which ignite on any surface (remember how Charlie Chaplin lit a match on his trousers).
In ancient times, to start a fire, our ancestors used the rubbing of wood on wood, then they began to use flint and invented flint. But even with it, kindling a fire took time, a certain skill and effort. Striking steel on flint, they carved a spark that fell on the tinder impregnated with tinder. He began to smolder and already from him, with the help of dry kindling, they fanned the fire
The next invention was the impregnation of a dry torch with molten sulfur. When the sulfur head was pressed against the smoldering tinder, it flared up. And from her they set fire to the hearth. This is how the prototype of the modern match appeared.
In 1669, white phosphorus, which is highly flammable from friction, was discovered and was used in the production of the first match heads.
In 1680, the Irish physicist Robert Boyle (1627-1691 who discovered Boyle's law) covered a small leaf with such phosphorus and took the wooden stick with a sulfur head already known to us. He rubbed it on the paper and a fire broke out as a result. But unfortunately, Robert Boyle did not draw any useful conclusion from this.
Chapsel's wooden matches, invented in 1805, had a head made of a mixture of sulfur, berthollet's salt, and cinnabar, which was used to paint the head red. 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 a carbon copy), or when concentrated sulfuric acid dripped onto it. His matches were dangerous to use and very expensive.
A little later, in 1827, the English chemist and pharmacist John Walker (1781-1859) discovered that if you cover the end of a wooden stick with certain chemicals, then striking it on a dry surface, the head lights up and sets fire to the stick. The chemicals he used were antimony sulfide, berthollet's salt, gum, and starch. Walker did not patent his Congreves, as he called the world's first friction matches, which he invented.
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 an amazing ability to glow, and Brand called it "phosphorus", which means "luminiferous" in Greek.
As for Walker, as is often the case, the pharmacist invented matches by accident. In 1826, he mixed chemicals with a stick. A dried drop has 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 "Lucifer" and began to sell them in tons, despite the fact that some problems were associated with the "Lucifer" - 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 with his invention. His matches n Congreves, however, often exploded and were unpredictably dangerous to handle. He died in 1859 at the age of 78 and was buried in the cemetery of the Norton Parish Church in Stockton.
Soon, however, Samuel Jones saw the Congreves Walker's matches and decided to start selling them as well, calling them Lucifers. Perhaps because of their name, Lucifers matches became popular, especially among smokers, but they also had an unpleasant smell when burned.
There was one more problem - the head of the first matches consisted of one phosphorus, which ignited perfectly, but burned out too quickly and the wooden stick did not always have time to catch fire. I had to go back to the old recipe - a sulfur head, and they 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 of the match head - chemicals that release oxygen when heated were added to 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 hold such a match on sandpaper, then the head ignites, but sometimes it happened with an explosion, and this led to serious burns.
The ways to further improve the matches were very clear: it was necessary to make such a mixture for the match head. so that it lights up calmly. The problem was soon resolved. The new composition consisted of berthollet's salt, white phosphorus and glue. Matches with such a coating would easily ignite on any hard surface, on glass, on the soles of shoes, on a piece of wood.
Nineteen-year-old Frenchman Charles Soria turned out to be the inventor of the first phosphorus matches. In 1831, a young experimenter added white phosphorus to a mixture of berthollet's salt and sulfur to weaken its explosive properties. This idea turned out to be successful, since the splinters smeared 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, the matches were re-created by the German chemist J. Kammerer.
These matches were highly flammable matches, so they caused fires, and besides, white phosphorus is a very poisonous substance. The workers in the match factories suffered from serious illnesses caused by phosphorus fumes.
The first successful recipe for an incendiary mass for the manufacture of phosphorus matches was apparently invented by the Austrian Irini in 1833. Irini offered it to the entrepreneur Roemer, who opened a match factory. But it was inconvenient to carry matches in bulk, and then a matchbox with rough paper glued to it appeared. Now there was no need to strike anything with a phosphorus match. The only problem was that sometimes matches would catch fire from friction in the box.
In connection with the danger of spontaneous 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 the strongest poison and, when burned, gave a very unpleasant and harmful odor. Workers of match factories, breathed in white phosphorus vapors, literally in a few months turned into invalids. In addition, dissolving it in water, they received the strongest poison, which could easily kill a person.
In 1847, Schroeter discovered red phosphorus, which was no longer poisonous. So gradually began replacing the poisonous white phosphorus in matches with red. The first combustible mixture based on it was created by the German chemist Betcher. He made the head of a match based on glue from a mixture of sulfur and berthollet's salt, and impregnated the match with paraffin. The match burned great, but its only drawback was that it did not ignite as before from friction on a rough surface. Then Beetcher smeared this surface with a compound containing red phosphorus. When rubbing the head of the match, the particles of red phosphorus contained in it ignited, set the head on fire and the match lit up with an even yellow flame. These matches produced neither smoke nor the foul odor of phosphorus matches.
Betcher's invention did not initially attract the attention of industrialists. For the first time, his matches began to be produced in 1851 by the Swedes brothers Lundstrem. In 1855, Johan Edward Lundstrom patented his matches in Sweden. Therefore, "safety matches" and began to be called "Swedish".
The Swede applied red phosphorus to the surface of the sandpaper on the outside of the small box and added the same phosphorus to the head of the match. Thus, they were no longer harmful to health and were easily ignited on a pre-prepared surface. Safety matches in the same year were presented at the International Exhibition in Paris and received a gold medal. From that moment on, the match began a triumphal procession around the world. Their main feature was that they did not ignite when rubbed against any hard surface. A Swedish match was lit only if it was rubbed against the side surface of the box, covered with a special compound.
Soon thereafter, Swedish matches began to spread around the world and soon the manufacture and sale of hazardous phosphorus matches was banned in many countries. After a few decades, the production of phosphorus matches completely ceased.
In America, the history of producing their own matchbox began in 1889. Joshua Pusey of Philadelphia invented his matchbox and called it Flexibles. To this day, no information has come down about the number of matches that fit 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-burning stove, he cooked the match head mixture and covered the surface of the box with another bright mixture to light the match. Beginning in 1892, Pusey spent the next 36 months defending the priority of his discovery in the courts. As often happened 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. Pusi'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 an offer from the Diamond Match Company to sell his patent to her for $ 4,000, along with an offer to work for the company. There was a reason to sue, because already in 1895 the production of matches exceeded 150,000 matchboxes per day.
But perhaps the United States has become the only country. where in the 40s a free box of matches was attached to a pack of cigarettes. They have been 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 ruble in silver for a hundred .. Later, the first matchboxes appeared, first wooden, and then tin. Moreover, even then labels were glued on them, which led to the emergence of a whole branch of collecting - phylumenia. The label carried not only information, but also decorated and supplemented the matches.
The number of factories that produced them reached 30 by the time the law came out in 1848 allowing their production only in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The following year, only one match factory was operating. In 1859 the monopoly law was abolished and in 1913 there were 251 match factories in Russia.
Modern wooden matches are made in two ways: veneer (for square matches) and stamp (for round matches). Small aspen or pine logs are either chipped or stamped with a match machine. Matches pass sequentially through five baths, in which a general impregnation with a fire-fighting solution is carried out, a paraffin soil layer is applied to one end of the match to ignite the wood from the match head, a layer forming a head is applied on top of it, a second layer is applied to the head tip, the head is still sprayed with a hardening 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 is 60% composed of Berthollet's salt, as well as combustible substances - sulfur or metal sulfides. In order for the ignition of the head to occur slowly and evenly, without an explosion, so-called fillers are added to the mass - glass powder, iron (III) oxide, etc. The bonding material is glue.
And what does the skin smear 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 rub against the skin at the point of their contact, red phosphorus ignites due to the oxygen of the berthollet salt. Figuratively speaking, fire is originally born in the skin. He also sets fire to the head of the match. Sulfur or sulfide flares up in it, again due to the oxygen of the berthollet salt. And only then the tree lights up.
Amo the word "match" comes from the plural form of the word "spoke" (a pointed wooden stick). Initially, this word meant wooden shoe nails, in this meaning "matches" still exist in a number of dialects. The matches used to extract fire were originally called "incendiary (or self-made) matches".
In 1922, all factories in the USSR were nationalized, but after the devastation their number became much less. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, about 55 boxes of matches were produced in the USSR per person. At the beginning of the war, most of the match factories ended up on the territory occupied by the Germans and a match crisis began in the country. Huge match requirements fell on the eight remaining match factories. In the USSR, lighters began to be produced in large quantities. After the war, match production quickly recovered again.
Signal - which give, when burning, a bright and far-visible colored flame.
Thermal - when these matches burn, more 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 in a large package.
Storm or hunting matches - these matches are not afraid of damp, they can burn in the wind and in the rain.
In Russia, 99% of all produced matches are aspen grated matches. Various types of grated matches are the main type of matches all over the world. Sesquisulfide matches were invented in 1898 by the French chemists Saven and Caen and are produced mainly in English-speaking countries, mainly for military needs. The rather complex composition of the head is based on non-toxic phosphorus sesquisulfide and berthollet's salt.
