Evening star., 1932-04-10
THE MIGHT OF MATCHES
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

Recent developments in the news have
had to do with matches-the suicide of
Ivar Kreugar, the Swedish match king.
and the activities Of the United States
Government in barring imports of
Russian matches because dumping in
violation of the customs laws had been
alleged. Such statements inevitably
make people wonder how so slight and
ephemeral an item Of consumption as a
match can make a money king and be-
come an international issue. How great
fortunes can be amassed out of the
manufacture Of an article which, in the
United States, Is given away by the
hundreds of millions seems a mystery.
The fact that the match is so
ephemeral, that its use means its in
slant destruction, combined with the
circumstance that the use is so uni
versal, make the business large one.
The individual who looks at a packet
at paper matches which he has &C
CURED for nothing or at a neat box
containing anywhere from ca TO 100
matches which he has bought for a
penny may be pardoned for wondering
how the fragile stem can afford the
basis of millions in wealth The
multiplication table is the answer. One
man uses one match at a time, but so
many men and women have occasion
to use so many matches In the course
of a day that the aggregate attainS
startling figures.
Actually, the packet Of paper matches
handed to the purchaser of cigars or
cigarettes as a gift has cost somebody
something. An advertiser has his name
on the cover. He has paid for the
matches in order to put his advertising
int rOrkptS 1iyplv n ha
read. subconsciously at least, as often
as the packet is used. There are only
20 matches in the ordinary paper
packet, but it probably is about the
cheapest form of advertising. 1t would
cost a good deal to put an advertise
ment in a newspaper for 20 insertions.
Also the advertiser can be reasonably
certain that the same man, the man
who has the matches, will glance at
his name 20 times in the lighting Of
! them. The value of repetition in ad-
vertising of incessant drilling into the
mind Of a prospective customer GER
tain trade name, is emphasized as a
prime factor in advertising psychology
Sweden's Fine Match Wood.
The aggregate production Of matches
| is so great that bulk sales and ship
mentS are often made in units Of tons
A ten OF matches seems like enough to
| furnish a community lifetime, but
| they are used with such rapidity that
| every year forests are cut down to sup
| ply the wood employed in those OF that
material and for the making Of wood
pulp for the paper matches. The small
size Of the match stick would suggest
that odds and ends Of lumber would be
adequate to supply match factories
: They are not. Whole forests are con-
tracted for and loggers establish camps
to bring out thousands upon thousands
I of tons of timber
| The match industry has been cen
tered in Sweden for many years because
| Swedish timber is especially well adapt
| ed to matchwood. The fine clear tim.
| Der, almost free of knots, works vel
in the machines and produces straight
| grained match sticks which do not
snap off when struck. The industr!
has reached over into Germany and the
Baltic countries of Lithuania, Esthonis
| and Poland, and now Russia has, under