Whistle Categories > Vesta Whistles
Where did vesta whistles originate?
First originating in the UK as vestas following the invention of friction matches. This easily spread to the States, France and other countries. Called match safes in the states.
Other countries followed, thus leaving a trail of whistle archeology to unearth. However not many countries produced manufacturers of this category. However, both of these countries had multiple manufacturing inside their countries.
The proliferation and abundance seemingly can make it hard to identify the origins, but a lot of research and study have already been done, and because of this there are websites to draw from.
How are vesta whistles identified?
Vestas or match safes have one thing in common, they have a compartment to hold matches, besides a whistle incorporated into the case.
From there one can go to websites with hundreds of pictures to compare to. Many hours have been spent researching records and catalogs describing models and orders.
Occasionally patents were taken out. Then there were catalogs to find and use as well as advertisements. Even auction sites research them for auction, and these can be a resource.
Why were they made?
It was found soon enough that friction would cause matches to ignite just held inside shirts or pockets. This was a very unfavorable situation inside of pockets. To protect the matches from igniting metal cases from simple to elaborate status symbol levels, came to be made by the thousands. The use of a whistle in conjunction remains a subject of debate.
The most obvious reason they were made was to protect the matches. However progressively this led to better and better cases soon reflecting status symbols of the wealthy. Many are made of precious metals like gold and silver, and this is beyond the ornate images, and the detailed artwork.
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