The Dying Swan

[Briar Lee]

You think capitalism drove this change?

I looked up why Swan matches quit the strike anywhere match.

The EU had further regulated the chemical for the tip of the match.

Being good capitalists the cheapest solution was to eliminate the chemical.

As to changing the box and logo the reason they did was to sell more matches, at higher profits.

There’s less material used per match in a smaller box. Less shipping cost.

And changing the logo a little gives free advertisement, such as this thread.

I’d never heard of Swan matches before.

I want some, now!.

 

[Architeuthis]

All this talk of matches reminds me of a time when paper matchbooks were give-aways at near every cash register and small packs of wooden matches were souveneir/marketing give-aways at nicer restaurant checkouts along with the individually wrapped toothpicks and peppermints. I think I still have a few dozen of those wooden match packs in a brandy snifter somewhere...

 

[Ahi Ka]

There’s less material used per match in a smaller box. Less shipping cost.

Isn’t the issue that the matches are now longer, and so they don’t fit the vesta cases?

 

[Briar Lee]

Isn’t the issue that the matches are now longer, and so they don’t fit the vesta cases?

You’re right, I had it backwards!

That will increase costs, add to shipping.

Hmmm.

What’s their competing matches size?

 

[Ahi Ka]

You’re right, I had it backwards!

That will increase costs, add to shipping.

Hmmm.

What’s their competing matches size?

No idea…maybe they are about to bring our new sizes vesta cases to fit.

 

[sablebrush52]

The reason that strike anywhere matches have all but disappeared is because shippers decided that they represented an unnecessary risk. Shipping costs went through the stratosphere so a number of companies stopped making them as they became unprofitable.
I believe that Diamond still offers them, but others stopped.
Sorry. No political conspiracies, just dollars and cents.

 

[jpmcwjr]

<< Snipped bits out >>. Though here is a question, how hard would it be to make your own matches? From what I've heard it is very doable and easy. Just don't use white phosphorus.

You better not try it until Martha Stewart documents how to do it.... so tastefully....

 

[jaingorenard]

The reason that strike anywhere matches have all but disappeared is because shippers decided that they represented an unnecessary risk. Shipping costs went through the stratosphere so a number of companies stopped making them as they became unprofitable.
I believe that Diamond still offers them, but others stopped.
Sorry. No political conspiracies, just dollars and cents.

That may well be true in the US, but in the EU (including the UK at the time) they were banned by regulation. I remember the original Swan Vestas disappearing very suddenly in about 2018. Still no conspiracy though!

 

[fireground_piper]

That may well be true in the US, but in the EU (including the UK at the time) they were banned by regulation. I remember the original Swan Vestas disappearing very suddenly in about 2018. Still no conspiracy though!

But not purely just a financial decision. It was a business decision sparked by government intervention via regulatory policy.

 

[Cloozoe]

Everything keeps getting worse! I thought about going back to the '50s, but did some reading and everyone then was pining for an even earlier era, so I kept working my way back looking for the golden age. I've gotten as far as the 5th century BC, but everyone was complaining that the world had gone to hell since the death of Cleisthenes. I'll keep regressing and let you know when I get to a time that the world didn't suck.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Can't disagree, Mon. l'Inspecteur.... Going forward in time may hold even worse consequences....

 

[Briar Lee]

A review of strike anywhere matches, and how to make your own.

Strike Anywhere Matches

A comprehensive guide to Strike Anywhere Matches: how to use them, where to buy them, how to make your own, and any other questions you have are answered here.

www.greenbelly.co

The real killer of the strike anywhere matches are disposable lighters and shipping costs.

Each one of these 22 cent lighters will start as many fires as $20 worth of matches.



And the best of the disposable lighters are a dollar each in quantity and each lighter is good for sixty dollars worth of matches.



I’m older than disposable lighters.

The first ones were Crickets, that cost a dollar, and you unscrewed the case a little to get the gas out.

Then came the Bic lighter.

I didn’t like it when they made them child proof, but they still work.

 

[runscott]

Why can’t people leave things alone!
Same box size for over hundred years & somebody decides it would be a good idea to render everybody’s Vesta case redundant!

Yes, but their new line of fancy cases are going to be very nice.

 

[sablebrush52]

The thing about the Vestas that made them so desirable to smokers was that they were sulfurless, so more sensitive souls could ignite their noxious choices of blends without fear of contamination from the match.

 

[Briar Lee]

In a lot of ways Swam is like the manufacturers of buggy whips. It’s a steadily declining market.

You can still buy a buggy whip today, but there are only high dollar good ones for sale, and $10 cheapies.

I’d never heard of a Swan match here in the USA.



But I thought Swan had shrunk the size of their matches.

If I was in a store, and saw both boxes, I’d pay more for the new one..

It’s a longer match, in a prettier box, with a redder tip, and whiter stick.

Upscale.

 

[burleybreath]

Do Schwanz Vestas work any better than any other match? Pretty sure I tried them decades ago. Must not have made much of an impression on me. Strike. Burn. Toss. Yawn.

 

[Briar Lee]

Do Swan Vestas work any better than any other match? Pretty sure I tried them decades ago. Must not have made much of an impression on me. Strike. Burn. Toss. Yawn.

You and me are talking about Swan matches, though, aren’t we?

The publicity this generates is worth a lot of money.

I’d like to try some.

I don’t have any match box holders.

 

[sablebrush52]

Swans always came in different sizes.
I still have a couple boxes of the long stemmed large ones I used to relight the pilot light in my old apartment. Nice stout stem. They were better made than the US crap.

 

[Briar Lee]

Swans always came in different sizes.
I still have a couple boxes of the long stemmed large ones I used to relight the pilot light in my old apartment. Nice stout stem. They were better made than the US crap.

When I was a kid my parents kept a box of Diamond Strike Anywhere Matches above the gas range.

At the store there were two brands to choose, Ohio Blue Tip and Diamond.

The Diamond matches cost a tiny bit more, like twenty cents instead of seventeen cents or something like that.

I can’t find any new Ohio Blue Tips for sale.

Swan is trying to upscale their product.

 

[runscott]

Do Schwanz Vestas work any better than any other match? Pretty sure I tried them decades ago. Must not have made much of an impression on me. Strike. Burn. Toss. Yawn.

Because they were talked up here, I bought a package of the smaller boxes. Mine were duds - kept breaking in half when I tried to strike them. So I'm one of the lucky smokers who didn't get hooked on them, and so isn't now disappointed.