Falkenmoor · est. 1902
Struck right,
first time.
Strikewell & Sons has dipped, dried and boxed safety matches by the lake for four generations. The splints are aspen, the heads are sesquisulphide, and the label archive upstairs is one of the finest in the country.
The house style
Four generations, one standard
Moritz Strikewell built the first dipping line on the Falkenmoor shore in 1902, three years after the town council banned open flames in the timber yards. His rule was simple and it still hangs in the packing hall: a match is a promise you carry in your pocket.
Today the works runs six match lines, a private-label bench for hotels and cafés, and a museum of matchbox labels that collectors cross the country to see. Every splint is cut from Falkenmoor aspen, dipped in the same paraffin bath the second generation installed, and struck against the same Verden-approved friction compound.
Six lines, one catalogue
All matchesFirst Strike
The everyday kitchen box. 40 splints, square-cornered tray, a striking strip that has not failed a batch since 1931.
£1.40 Best seller FireplaceHearth Keepers
Four-inch splints with an extra-deep head, made for coal scuttles, wood stoves and wind-haunted chimneys.
£3.20 Candle & vanityParlour No. 4
Two-and-a-half-inch splints in a brass-slider box, dyed to the season. The line hoteliers ask for by name.
£2.80 Storm proofMariner's Quota
Waxed boat boxes sealed against spray. Lights after a capsize, if the striker can say the same.
£4.60 TradeForeman's Dozen
Bulk cartons for workshops, yards and site kitchens. Twelve boxes, one tally card, no nonsense.
£9.00 Private labelAnniversary Splints
Wedding and hotel matches printed with your own crest in the works' own litho room.
From £34Phillumeny
4,800 labels, every one a small poster
Before television, the matchbox was the smallest billboard in the country. The works kept every plate it ever cut, and the family never stopped collecting other makers' labels when rivals folded. The result is an archive of swimmers, racing cars, liners, pantomime cows and one unexplained hedgehog.
"You can read a town's whole mood in its matchboxes."Hild Strikewell, 1979
The Striking Gallery
Come see where fire is kept politely
Open Thursday to Sunday, 10 till 4. The tour crosses the dipping floor, ends in the striking gallery, and finishes with tea in the dry loft. Coats optional, curiosity not.
Tours run twice daily: 11:00 and 14:00, forty minutes, up to twelve visitors.