Retrospect of a long life: from 1815 to 1883, Vol. 1, Samuel Carter Hall
Tinder Box was a household god. The “Tinder Box” was the precursor of the lucifer match that can be lit in an instant, and, when quiescent, is enclosed in a case so pretty, that it may be accepted as a graceful gift. Fifty years ago the tinder box was as indispensable as was, and is, the tea-kettle that still sings on the hob---of the kitchen.
As an old acquaintance the tinder box is worth describing. It was, more or less, coarsely ornamental, and of varied forms. Ordinarily, it was an oblong wooden box some six or eight inches long and three or four in width, and was divided into two parts by a partition. In one of these was fitted a loose lid with a central knob, to drop in as a “damper” on the tinder; and in the other were kept the flint, steel, and bunches of brimstone matches. The “tinder” was scorched or half-burned linen rag. The flint and steel being struck together emitted sparks, and then, as soon as a spark had fallen upon and ignited the tinder, the brimstone end of a “match” was applied to it, and lit. The matches were thin slips of deal [fir or pine wood], five or six inches long and, perhaps, a quarter of an inch wide, cut to a point at each end, and dipped in melted brimstone [sulfur]; they were hawked about the country by itinerant vendors. The fumes of the sulphur emitted a scent by no means pleasant to the olfactory nerves: in fact, the stench was strong enough to find its way from the kitchen to the attic of a lofty mansion! From the match thus ignited, a candle was lit-- of mutton fat usually, of “moulds” where greater cost could be afforded.
