Matchbox

A matchbox is a container or case made of cardboard or thin wood and designed to place matches. It usually has a special surface on one edge to light the matches contained inside. Usually, is a box that contains safety matches. made of wooden sticks or cardboard stripes. It usually has a coarse striking surface on one edge for lighting the matches contained inside. Matchboxes generally measure 5 x 3.5 x 1.5 cm. For some applications matchbooks have replaced matchboxes. 

It is generally used to carry matches in the pocket, in the form of a cardboard box with a separate drawer that runs inside the cover, or a folding case with half lid folding over the other half, acting as protection for the matches. Cylindrical matchboxes with a round cover on one end, are also available.

 Types 
There are metal match boxes (of the type described above or a different type), rubber, wood, mother-of -pearl, ivory, bone, celluloid, etc. sometimes with very whimsical shapes, some of which also have a hollow cylinder in which a nitrated wick is housed so that it can ignite when it is windy.

Apart from the pocket boxes mentioned, there are tabletop match boxes, to hang on the wall, fixed in a palmarium, etc. The first are boxes of some capacity, made of fine wood, cut glass, etc., without a lid or with a hinged lid, the only condition being that they close well and have enough weight at the bottom to scratch the match don't move Match boxes hung on the wall are used in kitchens, they are usually made of ash wood, they do not have a lid and a hook or hole protrudes from the back of the box to hang them on the wall. 

All matchboxes must have a scraper so that the head of the match can be rubbed against it to light it. Ordinary cardboard boxes carry it on one or both sides. The metal boxes have for scraper a scraper that is usually placed on the edge, in a slot made for this purpose. The rasp can be machined from the same metal or be a metal sheet, welded or glued. 

In tabletop or wall-hanged match boxes, the scraper is usually made of sandpaper, attached to the most visible part and at the top of the box.

 Matchbook 

A book of matches is a small cardboard folder that contains matches joined at the base and has a surface to be able to rub the matches on the outside. The binder must be opened to access the matches, which are placed in a comb shape and must be torn to use.them, unlike those in a standard matchbox where they are loosely packed in the drawer that can be slid with the finger.

 Collecting 
In English there is the term phillumeny, which is the hobby of collecting different items related to matches, matchboxes, match box labels, matchbooks, match covers, etc. 

In Japan, Teiichi Yoshizawa was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the best collector of matches in the world. In Portugal, Jose Manuel Pereira published a series of albums to catalog and display matchbox collections called "Phillalbum".

 References 

Category:Containers
Category:Collecting
Category:Home appliances