Treasure Hunting from A to Z – British Matchbox Label and Bookmatch Society

Hi, my name is Peter Pålsson and I am a phillumenist from Sweden.

For almost 40 years I have collected older Swedish matchboxes and labels and one of the best things I know is to be able to add a new factory to my collection, so my theme will therefore be to show labels and boxes from all the different Swedish factories in my collection starting from the letter “A”.

The Swedish Match Industry is one of the oldest in the world, beginning in 1836. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the biggest producer of matches and matchboxes in the world, with over 50 factories working at its height. Like many industries it went through a period of consolidation in the 20th century, but Swedish Match is still the world’s premier manufacturer.

Liköping is a city that a large part of my family comes from and in Croydon in 1995 I was able to pick up lots of the labels that I have today in my favourite factory, Lidköping’s match factory. Another city that also means a lot to me is Hudiksvall as my wife comes from there and the joy of being able to buy a sheet from there a few years ago was total as I believe that this sheet is the only one of its kind in the world.

Click on an image in the gallery below to see more factories and the unique sheet from Hudiksvall.

Swedish match factories E to F

Swedish match factories F to G

Swedish match factories G to J

Swedish match factories H to M

Swedish match factories L to K

Swedish match factories M to P

Swedish match factories R to U

Swedish match factories W to Y

For those of you who are wondering, the dimensions of a normal box label are approximately 50 x 30 mm and the karduse boxes I show around 110 x 110 mm, the sheet from Hudikvall is 160 x 210 mm. When you then go up to package formats and larger, there is almost an infinite number of formats.

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