Light my Fire – the story of a striking match

Some things we take for granted. Like lighting a candle, fire or any other flammable object that needs some flamin’. Ever so often we stumble across a documentary showing us how in the ‘olden days’ humans used flints, glass in sun or any other way worthy of an episode of ‘Man v Wild’. From the comfort of our sofa, lit up by an array of lights, we huff in that special way only comfortable Westerners can, who never huddled around a wet piece of branch trying to cook dinner and keep the wild ones away, and realise ‘’I would freeze to death, develop a taste for raw meat and be eaten by a pack of wolves in no time’. Survival of the fittest.

And then the match came along, and it became survival of the smartest. I’m so pleased the match was invented. What a genius Gustaf Erik Pasch was, may his memory burn forever. Not only a match, but a safety match! The iMatch of matches. It has Sweden written all over it. Flaming, but safe. Herr Pasch certainly had panache.

Often the best things in life seem easy. At least they come across that way. A shoehorn, a doorstop, a rocking chair and a cheese knife are just some of the things that come into my mind.Though the safety match is simple in function, it is the whole science behind it that makes it work. And work. And work. 160 years later, the concept has remained the same. The making of safety matches became one of Sweden’s most successful industries in the 19th Century and into the 20th Century, and probably the most recognised export of Sweden at this time. Not bad for a bit of wood, chemistry and a strike. So next time you’re cuddling up next to your loved on, replace the humming of Door’s ‘Light my fire’ by asking if your darling wouldn’t mind swipe the match against your striking surface.