When you slip into a cozy 1970s cabin amid the smell of pine and the warmth of knotty wood walls, it’s all of the little touches that take you back. There, in the midst of cast iron pans and crocheted throws, is something on the wall that doesn’t feel like a dust-collecting prop — a neat little wooden box. This is not just décor — it is a matchbox dispenser from the 1970s, a piece of handy ephemera that made setting a fire easy and satisfying as part of everyday life.
Well before electric starters and gas igniters became ubiquitous, wooden matches fueled daily life. Whether you were igniting a wood stove or lighting a lantern in a blackout, you wanted to have matches on hand. People needed a place to keep them safe, dry and at hand. And that’s what the wall-mounted matchbox dispenser of the 1970s was for.
Crafstmen often made these dispensers of pine or birch to match the cabin’s rustic aesthetic. The design was simple: two holes on the front let you push the matchbox down, feeding it to the open slot at the bottom. You could even pick up a match with one hand, while still holding kindling or a pot of beans with the other.
The dispenser above is a case in point. Its undulating, organic finish and minimalist form epitomize the kind of Scandinavian influence that was prevalent in design in the 1970s — clean, functional and discreetly beautiful.” These were the kinds many of us made in shop class or presented as handmade gifts at the holidays. These vintage dispensers from the 1970s were nothing fancy, but they never failed.