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The Encyclopaedia Project

The Sussex Matchbox Labels Worldwide Simplified Encyclopaedia of Matchbox Labels is an ongoing project that will take a number of years to create and bring to fruition. 

Background History:  Since the invention of the match in the late 1820’s, a number of furtive attempts have been made to produce a work of reference in relation to the labels produced to support the process of selling of the humble match!  However, with all the efforts made by so many devoted collectors and researchers, very little has transpired to create a fully functional cohesive document.

It was muted as far back as 1945 in one of the first issues of The Match Label News that it would be nice if the hobby had a extensive catalogue or Encyclopaedia of the matchbox labels being released and, over the years, similar suggestions were made in subsequent issues of the Match Label News but realistically with all to no avail.

During the formative years of the hobby I would have to agree that the task of creating any really substantial work of reference by a single individual would have been very hard to do and probably impossible.  However, with the arrival of computers and the world wide web the impossible now becomes more probable.

Prior to the turn of the 20th Century, match manufacture was prolific in many areas of the world.  However, as with all good things, the smaller businesses got consumed by larger ones and additionally, compulsory government legislation was very expensive to implement.  So apart from the consumption of smaller businesses by the larger ones, others closed down either through the inability to implement the legislation or through one of the many other reasons around at that time such as, fire, under capitalisation, war or the like.

As we moved into the 20th Century, more and more smaller concerns were absorbed by the larger ones and in many cases, manufacture ceased to exist, as did the product lines they produced.

With the prospect of war being less to the fore after 1945, a period of lengthening stability emerged as many countries started to rebuild their shattered economies & infrastructures. 

Man has always had a fertile mind and none more so since the ceasing of general hostilities in 1945/1946.   Domestic output increased and the need to expand material wealth in the home also increased.  Research & Development from many areas of industry gradually began to create a society that looked to creature comforts that were previously accepted as unobtainable but now as being the accepted norm!  Cars, washing machines, televisions, electricity on a grand scale and other commodities began to appear. 

Although in the UK a National Health Service was born, at this time, health was in general on the back foot as society became more insistent on the “creature comforts of life” such as alcohol, cigarettes, cigars, dance halls, cars & the ever growing in popularity - televisions.  As we moved towards the end of the 20th century, we began to realise that our lifestyles weren’t always in sync with what was best for us. 

The sales of matches declined as the open fire was replaced in the main by gas & electric central heating, The sale of matches further declined with the introduction of the refillable or throwaway gas lighter. Health however, once again became a political agenda for Governments.  They began to realise that people were living longer and that pharmaceutical companies were making medicines to aid that longevity.  However, significantly more people were dying of smoking related diseases and for many governments this meant large increases in their health budgets. 

Other than Global Warming which as we all know affects how we approach the next millennium and for which many years Governments refused to accept was “real”, very little has been done on a global scale - in relation to the other many projects subscribed to - to improve the general health of the countries for whom they have that responsibility.  Instead of looking at ways to reduce the burden on the health budgets, Governments were quite happy to rake in extra millions by way of taxation by placing financial penalties on those they believed were creating the extra burden. 

However, the latest trend of Governments is now to retain the high levels of taxation of health threatening products such as cigarettes but to legislate in an attempt to control consumer lifestyles with a view to reducing the financial burden placed upon them by the spiraling increases in smoking related illnesses.  Consequently with the introduction of the no smoking legislation, a further erosion of sales in match related products has to happen.

The number of match manufacturer’s around the world now, in comparison to those in existence at the turn of the 20th century is very small and, of those that still exist, many are under the control of one or two large companies.  The largest is without doubt the company known nowadays as “Swedish Match”.  It was this company that acquired nearly every major match manufacturer in the United Kingdom, and regrettably, it was this company who rationalised the industry to the point that not one single factory exists in the UK today, and in many cases in European countries either!

So as we move forward towards the next millennium, we still haven’t got a single comprehensive work of reference to show the turbulent life of all those companies who are no longer in existence and who for so many years produced the humble match, for us, the loyal consumer.

The New Beginning:  Hope however always springs eternal - or so they say.  With effort and cooperation from all those who have a desire to see this hobby of ours continue through to the next millennium and not wither by the wayside for lack of support, a definitive work of reference can be the ultimate result.

Like the open source software which is freely available on the internet as a result of like minded individuals pooling their expertise, an Encyclopaedia of matchbox labels is definitely a realistic objective taking into account the input that so many individuals can pool as a result of their many years of collecting & experience.

Please be part of this project!  No matter how little or how much effort you put in, the ultimate reward will be worth it.

In the meantime, I will upload a number of Encyclopaedia sections so that visitors can see how the Encyclopaedia is laid out, the information that will be displayed and images of the respective labels.

Please remember, all that you see is work in progress and also very definitely, copyrighted ©Aaron D J Brünger.  

The Encyclopaedia although located on the same server as this web site has been produced using a completely different Software Programme.  The programme that has been used is specifically orientated to displaying web images and as such is much faster and more efficient than the built in facilities afforded by this software programme which is more suited to letterpress with some imaging.

The Encyclopaedia utilises the 26 letter Western European Alphabet and is displayed in alphabetical order (not country order).  There is an information page (see the fly out menus to the left of this page) located within this web site for each letter with a hyper-link which when clicked, will open up the first index page for the letter concerned in a new browser window.

Naturally, the whole Encyclopaedia is work in progress but as time goes by, more and more pages will come on line until hopefully, it will be the most extensive Encyclopaedia available to the collector. 

Aaron D J Brünger
Project Coordinator.

Page History:
Initially Produced on  26th November 2007
Updated & Uploaded on 11th September 2009

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