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Tom O'Key Collection
Walker's Friction Matches label and an early American, Wilson's Patent Yankee Match Stand & Safe, table match holder and striker, dating to 1838, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The earliest match holder and striker attributed to Samuel Jones for his Lucifer Matches. Dates to 1830, England
Friction Lights... Not Congreves as they don't appear until 1831. Lucifers began earlier, after Jones began copying Walker's formula after hearing about the Friction Lights from Michael Faraday in the Royal Society of Science. Jones continued making his Patent Promethean Matches well into the 1830's.
Here's the Watts's Chlorate Matches Matchbox c1831
Jones vs Watts is a court case where Jones stops Watts from defamatory activities. Soon, Bell and others copy Sauria's formula and Congreves become a product that is sold in many countries for decades to come. Jones's Promethean Matches were very popular as they were reliable and known to work in damp environments, at least until improved formulas were created to make matches more resilient. Here's two examples of Jones's Promethean Matchboxes... c1828
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