Matchsticks Once Sickened and Deformed Women and Children

[Judi Lynn]

Matchsticks Once Sickened and Deformed Women and Children

Kristina Killgrove

Everyone knows the beginning of the age of industrialization in England was not pleasant. People looking for work crowded into cities, which then became cesspools of disease and pollution. One particularly dirty job done by women and children actually made them glow in the dark: matchstick making. And it also contributed to “phossy jaw,” a disease as gross as it sounds—necrosis of the jaw bone caused by phosphorus poisoning.

Recently, anthropologists studying the skeleton of a young teenager discovered that the bones appear to show the physical hallmarks of phosphorus poisoning, among other conditions. They published their findings in the open access journal International Journal of Paleopathology [PDF].

Matchstick making was incredibly popular in 19th century England, with hundreds of factories spread across the country. For 12 to 16 hours a day, workers dipped treated wood into a phosphorus concoction, then dried and cut the sticks into matches.



This work paid poorly, and half of the employees in this industry were kids who hadn’t even reached their teens. While working long hours indoors in a cramped, dark factory put these children at risk of contracting tuberculosis and getting rickets, matchstick making held a specific risk: phossy jaw.

More:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/79545/matchsticks-once-sickened-and-deformed-women-and-children

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. There is a financial untold story about matchsticks, too.

A man from Denmark became The Match stick King, had a virtual monopoly on matchstick making, and then doubled up by turning the biz. into a ponzi scheme, in the 1930's.
I am reading about him now.
The Match King: Ivar Kreuger, The Financial Genius Behind a Century of Wall Street Scandals