11/30/2025

Maguire & Paterson LTD. "The Friendly Match" Brand (c. 1920s–1960s)

It's label number two! So happy to see us!

Maguire & Paterson was founded in 1882 in Belfast, but would later settle in Dublin (the original foundation name was Paterson & Co Ltd). They were a very prolific producer of matches, and still operate today, wow!

So, why are these matches so friendly? Simply, it’s an alternate way to label them as safety matches. Originally matches contained white phosphorus and were extremely dangerous. Safety matches were developed in Sweden by Gustaf Erik Pasch and the Lundström brothers in the 1840s and 1850s, they separated the reactive ingredients between the match head and the striker, which made them drastically safer. By 1860, safety matches became commonplace and were known as the “friendly” alternative to the original matches.

The “Friendly” brand matchbox by Maguire & Paterson had several slight variations, which lets us approximately date this one. The earliest examples (from around 1900) have softer, almost bubble-like text and include the Brand Registration Number of 320874, which was typical for the earliest design. Our version today is slightly later, probably around 1930 or 1940. The text is blockier and the backing colour is cream, later labels were distinctly yellow in the 1960s and 1970s, so ours is likely earlier.

I like the way our design looks here, the way “Friendly” angles upwards implies a sort of upward cadence, making the word fittingly feel softer, or more tender. I wonder if this was in any way intentional, or just a convenient way of making sure the word doesn’t intersect with “match” written below. Either way, it’s a nice, simple design. It doesn’t need to rely on an object to win favour, simply labelling itself as a friendly box, which is quite sweet and appealing.