  Home-made matches in holder.
As you can see from this and other samples I have listed under phosphorus, there are a variety of styles of "match safes" that were in apparently common use in the past. Why don't you have a match safe today? Because matches no longer tend to ignite themselves spontaneously. Early matches were chemically unstable and had a tendency to decide on there own when a good time to light might be, explaining the popularity of metal boxes designed to contain this situation.
To make the point, and because I am genuinely concerned about them, I have stocked this holder with a few of the home-made matches I made for one of my Popular Science columns a few years ago. I have no idea how long they will last before spontaneously combusting.
Source: Theodore Gray
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 16 April, 2009
Text Updated: 17 April, 2009
Price: Priceless
Size: 3"
Purity: <10%
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