Match (tool)

Definition and stakes

Ethel Maltby Gehres,  The Silent Readers: Sixth Reader

“ Are they loose in a drawer or on a shelf, or are they in a covered box or dish of metal or earthenware? Sometimes uncovered matches are ignited by the sun's rays shining through a lens-forming bubble in a window-pane.
Do you carry matches on your person? A child should never be allowed to do this. He may be careful, but some careless child may ask him for a match. Always be on the safe side. A grown person should never permit himself to carry loose matches in his pocket. The State Fire Marshal of Iowa says:
Some men, especially smokers, are in the habit of carrying matches around with them.
”
Source: Gutenberg

George H. Sandison,  How to Behave and How to Amuse…

“ Whoever mentions an object without touching it, or names one that has already been given, pays a forfeit.
The Three Matches.
With your penknife slit one end of a match, and trim that of another into a wedge shape. Insert this latter into the split end of the former, so that the two shall form an acute angle. Place [127] them on the table, the angle upward, and prop them up by leaning another match against them, the whole forming a tripod, as shown in the figure. Now hand a fourth match to one of the company, and request him to lift with it the other three from the table.
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Source: Gutenberg

Various,  Punch, or the London Charivari…

“ What is the true explanation of the use which people make of matches—of safety matches, wooden matches, wax matches, and, less commonly, of fusees? Ask any man why he uses such things, and he will tell you that he does it to get a light, or because others do it.
Is this true? You will probably think so. Let us examine the question. Why does a man hold his hand in front of a match when he lights it in the street? To screen it from the wind, or to hide it from the sight of passers-by? Why do ladies leave the dinner-table before the men begin to smoke?
”
Source: Gutenberg

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