Match box

1890-1940

Measurements

6-3/8 in x 3-3/4 in x 1-3/8 in

Materials

Unidentified conifer, possibly hard pine

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of H. Rodney Sharp

Accession Number

1959.3982

Provenance

Ex coll. H. Rodney Sharp

Comments

This match box is shaped from a solid block of wood with a hole in the top center for hanging. The body of the block has three holes drilled into it.  The front of the block has three bowed shapes corresponding to the drilled holes.  Matches were intended to be stored in the three holes.  Wooden "friction" matches dipped in phosphorous or other chemicals were not readily available until about 1860, and then they were somewhat exotic.  Containers for matches seem to have appeared around 1875.  Close examination of this match box suggests that it is later still.

The box has a thick coat of red paint with a heavily alligatored surface (from the paint breaking down and separating into its constituent parts) that covers all but the back.  The top of the block and the insides of each of the drilled holes have been stained black, probably to suggest age and to cover raw and unoxidized wood colors.  The holes appear to have been made with a modern drill bit having a centering screw and trailing spurs.