Intro to Vesta Cases and Match Safes

Sadly, now that November is upon us, my favorite flea market closed for the season, to reopen in April. I have found many things I’ve never seen before and often use those finds as a source for some of my research and posts. My mother could tell a really great story. Her mother (Irish) inspired her, and I love to spin true stories as well. So I will start with one about vesta cases and match cases.

This past summer at the flea market, I came across an old cardboard box on the ground that had some old printed calico and other fabrics. As I was looking through it, the seller gave me a great price for the contents. I pulled out the fabric so I could get a better look at it and noticed two little things wrapped in tissue paper underneath it all. I unwrapped  them to see what they were, and gave them to the seller, telling her that they were at the bottom of the box. Both were sterling silver, and one of them was a match safe or a vesta case. We were both glad that I didn’t go off with the box without checking the contents. The seller said she was cleaning out for an elderly lady who was forgetful and worried about losing some nice things, and therefore hid things all over in her home. This little sterling item that had been hidden for safe keeping but wound up in a box at a flea market sparked my curiosity about vesta cases and match cases.

Vesta friction matches were patented by British inventor William Newton in 1832. Being combustable, people needed a way to store them. There is a lot of information about vesta cases that I don’t understand, but I will give you a great link to the history from The Vintage Compact Shop blog written by Danielle Boyd here.  I’ll just say that vestas are not wooden matchsticks. They are wax covered threads with an ignitable top made of phosphorus. The case prevented them from lighting and also kept the chemicals dry. Vesta cases were usually ribbed on the bottom for use as a match strike. They were at peak popularity from 1890 to 1920.

Match safes held wooden or paperboard matches and similarly protected them. As they do today…damp matches are the bane of campers everywhere!

I’d like to show you a few of my favorite vesta cases or match cases and hope you will enjoy them. There are more of these cases in England than I see in the US, but then I am new to this field of collecting.

Scientific American Sterling Silver Match Safe

This item is very similar to the one I unwrapped at the flea market. The left-hand part of the journal is hinged to access the matches within. I am in awe of the “wrapper” with the New York Post Office cancellation and the one cent postage stamp. The rest of the wrapper would be engraved with the owner’s monogram or in my instance, it had a woman’s name and her address! This beautiful small work of craftsmanship is available on Etsy on Foundby Storm’s shop. The image is a link back to the item in their shop.

Sterling Silver Chatelaine

Chatelaines would be fixed to a woman’s waistband to hold various items that she would need, This is elaborately composed of elegant medallions of Neoclassical themes. It has three chains to hold a needlecase, a lovely pencil case which holds a pencil and of course a vesta match safe. all wrought by master silversmiths in England. I wonder if this might have been a wedding gift for an Edwardian bride as it was quite elaborate and costly. This elegant and practical chatelaine is offered in the Etsy shop of BirneyCreek.

Novelty Skull Vesta Match Strike Case In Heavy Silver

Not all vesta or match safes look alike. Some of the more collectible ones are figural, as in this perfectly articulated skull. Open at the lower jaw to get your vesta with the skull and then strike it under the jaw to light it. I could imagine that this was a gift for a medical student. Quantique, a seller on Etsy has this skull vesta case available.

These vesta cases are just a small sample of the ones available to purchase. Prices for non-sterling ones are less. Be on the lookout for smaller metal, wood or vulcanite boxes that seem too small to seem to be of much use. You might pick them up at flea markets or estate sales. It is also very important to read up on the subject to help you assess these objects as you come across them. Visiting the International Match Safe Association website is a good place to start.