Twisted Firestarter.


Matchbooks are unequivocally shit.

Their purpose, presumably, is convenience. Why carry a hefty box of matches when you can settle for them in book form instead? No-one wants an ominous and unsightly rectangular bulge filling up their jacket pocket (unless, of course, they do).

Sadly, the matchbook’s proportions are all it has going for it. Remove its slimline properties from the equation and all you’re left with is a handful of bits of wood that hold all the physical appearances of a match, without any of their fire-making potential.

The matches are too flimsy to strike without breaking. The strip on the matchbook isn’t coarse enough to create any friction. It’s a lose-lose situation.

The other day I tried to use a book of matches to light a candle with a wick that was too low down in the holder to reach by hand. After exhausting a whole row without success, I took evasive action, and set fire to the end of one of the matches with a lighter.

This defeated the object of the matchbook in the first place.

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