Object Record
Images
Additional Images [1]
Metadata
Object ID # |
1955.012.018 |
Object Name |
Safe, Match |
Title |
Match Safe that Advertises Bryant & May's Swan Vestas |
Lexicon category |
3: Personal Artifacts |
Date |
Early 1910s? |
Made |
Unknown factory for Bryant & May's matches |
Place of Origin |
Britain |
Description |
Metal match safe pressed with an emboss-style logo (round) with "BRYANT & MAY'S SWAN VESTAS". There is a striker surface on the one end. There is a lip for opening the hinged lid of the match safe. No maker's identification for the maker of the match safe. There is a rounded, ridged upper end. |
Provenance |
Bryant & May's Swan Vestas were produced in the United Kingdom, starting in July, 1861. This British-made? matchsafe was kept by Mr. Charles Husband, whose deceased son, Arthur, had been a veteran of the First World War. Arthur resided in the Kemble area of Grey County, Ontario, but died in 1920 due to a drowning accident. He had kept it as a souvenir of the war, and had kept six bullets in it, which have since been removed. It likely dates from the early 1910s? The war was from 1914-1918, and most of the surviving Canadian soldiers returned home to Canada in 1919. The item last belonged to Alice Husband, the second wife of Arthur's father. The Husband family is recorded in the book BEAUTIFUL STONEY KEPPEL (1986), see page 352. Charles Husband had purchased the Kemble blacksmith shop in 1888. The family is also listed in the 1901 Census of Keppel Township: They were at Pt. Lot 40, and Lot 41, Con. 19: Husband, Charles...b. June 9, 1864, age 36, b. Ontario, Methodist, Blacksmith. His wife was Mary Husband, b. May 11, 1866. Their son, Arthur C. Husband was born Oct. 25, 1889 and was then 11 years old. Their daughter Eliza G. Husband was born Oct. 14, 1891 and was 9 years old. A blacksmith apprentice named Wm. G. Grant, age 22, resided with them. Arthur Husband was drowned in the Nipigon River in August of 1920. Arthur, after completing the study of medicine in Toronto had enlisted in the First World War and went overseas, receiving a commission. After the war he had returned to his medical studies, and worked as a fire ranger and trapper during the summer before his death. Arthur Clifford Husband's death registration says that his date of death was August 24, 1920. He died at Virgin Falls, Ontario, age 30, 11 mos. He was recorded there as a medical student. The first Mrs. Charles Husband was formerly Miss Mary Fraser, of Sydenham Township (daughter of Thomas Fraser). She died not long after her son's death. The second Mrs. Charles Husband was Alice Gilbert, formerly of Lockport, New York. |
Collection |
Tobacco Accessories Collection |
Material |
Metal |
Dimensions |
W-3.4 L-5 D-1.6 cm |
Found |
Kemble, Township of Georgian Bluffs, Grey County |
People |
Husband, Charles Husband, Arthur |
Subjects |
Matchcovers Matches World War I (First World War/The Great War) |
Function |
A pocket-sized storage container for matches, which could be lit by striking each one on the striker surface. This match safe was later used to store six souvenir bullets from the First World War. These are no longer within it (see RELATED items). |