Indian matchbox labels as a visual archive (opens in new tab)

Ha ha! I worked in one of these matchbox factories as a kid. My dad had dropped me off at my grandpa's for summer vacation in the village. I was not a particularly good kid. So my grandpa took me to the match factory in the morning and told me to make myself useful. You sit around in a circle on the floor. There is a small hill of matchsticks piled in front of you. You count 50 sticks and stuff them into a matchbox, push that matchbox into the center of the pile. If you stuff 100 matchboxes you get 10 paisa or some such...was in the 1970s, I don't recollect exact amount. I do remember I came out in the evening with enough money to buy a stick ice-cream.

Well one hobby I had when young was collecting these matchboxes. It was rumored that collecting 1000 unique ones would unlock something and gave rise to a rat race, this is pre Indian internet and no one really knew what it would unlock. I would look into the dirtiest of places against my family's protests.

A variant of the iconic 'Ship' called 'Shib', probably a misprint was the most prized possession. When I rethink this, it seems the poor man's version of baseball cards or other collectibles but as fun, a jugaad fun activity in times of extreme scarcity

Jason Scott notes that the Matchbox Posters Archive (url withheld to avoid killing it) is uploading their collection to the Internet Archive. They're beautiful.

https://archive.org/details/matchboxpostersarchive

Printed Rainbow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LatobRtLukM

The journey of an old woman and her cat through the fantastical world of match box covers. The film premiered in Cannes Critic's Week in 2006, winning three awards in Cannes and 22 other international awards.

I used to collect these matchbox covers as a kid. Just like stamps. A bit later in time than the ones shown in the website, but definitely as fancy. There were no large "match box" corporations and each region had their own designs. Once our parents took us on a tour to North India and matchbox covers from those cities were the highlight of my collection.

Ok but I was hoping of for a link to the visual archive?

Kinda like https://centurylibrary.com/ (paid and free), or https://watchlibrary.org/ (free)

Play with that cookie consent bar at the bottom if you feel like you need to get your blood pumping!

I would’ve read what the site was about if I didn’t get the most complicated cookie consent modal. Just backed out and won’t be visiting that now.

Ah, this brings back so many memories. Wimco used to be a top manufacturer back in the day (and probably still is, although I'm not sure about that.)

Highlights of my childhood include Aim, Bullock Cart, Chief, Homelites, Sunflower, Tekka and The Horse Head, among others.

It reminded me of the now defunct India-zine http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/

“Shib” being more valuable because of a printing mistake is honestly the most believable part of this story. Every collectible scene somehow ends up worshipping misprints.

> To ensure the AI-generated artwork felt authentic

Such a treatment to years of legacy.

Kthxbye.

I remember my grandma's favorite beedi brand - paanch phool. She would give me 10 bucks to buy a pack for her which was around 5 bucks that time. The remaining would be my tip.

Maybe I missed something, but this article felt more like an ad for their modern matchbox designs, versus any sort of gallery of older ones - save for a collage near the end.

3 Mangoes brand from the 70's, is very familiar to me.