Match Making Mechanised

The first continuous match making machinery was established at Moreland's in 1912. This was to revolutionise the match making process which had previously consisted of fifteen to twenty different operations, most performed laboriously by hand. Now in one design of machine, pine wood blocks were fed and cut into matchsticks; these were pushed into holes in a steel conveyor belt. The belt carried them first through hot paraffin wax, then through the chemical mixture to form their heads. The heads were dried and the matches were dropped into boxes at the end of the machine. Around this time the first delivery lorry replaced horse-drawn transport.

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