magic match in "Double Indemnity"
Mark Spahn
Tonight I saw the 1944 movie “Double Indemnity”,
which is about a 保険金殺人事件.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ele8v_7tuH0
is the very last scene, in which the insurance salesman Neff
(Frederick MacMurray) confesses his insurance-scam murder
to the insurance investigator Keyes (Edward G. Robinson).
As he lies injured from a bullet wound, Neff gets Keyes to
light Neff’s cigarette. But Keyes does it in a most unusual way:
he seems to light an ordinary wooden match by flipping its tip
with a flick of his thumbnail. This occurs at 1:35 in this clip.
How is this magic trick performed?
Did matches in 1944 have the property of igniting when friction
is applied to the matchhead? Sounds kind of unsafe.
Earlier in the movie is a scene in which Keyes is buying cigars and
has Neff light Keyes’s cigar with Neff’s cigarette lighter.
Neff says something like, “You know, when you buy cigars,
they’ll give you matches if you just ask for them.” Keyes replies,
saying something like, “But they always go off in my pocket.”
(Wish I remembered the exact wording.)
The custom of breathing tobacco smoke, which occurs as
a matter of course in this movie, will itself be as much
a thing of the past as the centuries-past custom of
sniffing shredded tobacco into one’s nostrils is now.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snuff_%28tobacco%29
-- Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY)
Alan Siegrist
Mark Spahn writes:
Tonight I saw the 1944 movie “Double Indemnity”,
which is about a 保険金殺人事件.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ele8v_7tuH0
is the very last scene, in which the insurance salesman Neff
(Frederick MacMurray) confesses his insurance-scam murder
to the insurance investigator Keyes (Edward G. Robinson).
As he lies injured from a bullet wound, Neff gets Keyes to
light Neff’s cigarette. But Keyes does it in a most unusual way:
he seems to light an ordinary wooden match by flipping its tip
with a flick of his thumbnail. This occurs at 1:35 in this clip.
How is this magic trick performed?
I think I have seen this magic trick done before. If I recall correctly, it is done by gluing a little patch of sandpaper to the thumb, and lighting the match by rubbing the sandpaper across the tip of the match.
I have heard of people that can supposedly use only the fingernail of their thumb to generate enough friction to light a match, but that seems a bit doubtful and unlikely. At any rate, it would probably take considerable practice to succeed consistently. The sandpaper on the thumb trick makes it easy for anyone to do it.
Did matches in 1944 have the property of igniting when friction
is applied to the matchhead? Sounds kind of unsafe.
Well, all matches have this property, even now. Sure, most matchbooks and matchboxes have a little strip of rough paper, like sandpaper, that makes it easy to strike the matches. But the “strike anywhere” safety matches with a distinctive red bulb and white tip are made so that they can be more easily struck on rough materials like rocks or concrete or such.
But no matter where you do it, friction is needed to strike them.
Not sure what is so unsafe about friction needed to strike matches, and I don’t even really know why those matches are called “safety matches.”
Best,
Alan Siegrist
Orinda, CA, USA
Matthew Schlecht
Tonight I saw the 1944 movie “Double Indemnity”
,
which is about a 保険金殺人事件.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ele8v_7tuH0
is the very last scene, in which the insurance salesman Neff
(Frederick MacMurray) confesses his insurance-scam murder
to the insurance investigator Keyes (Edward G. Robinson).
As he lies injured from a bullet wound, Neff gets Keyes to
light Neff’s cigarette. But Keyes does it in a most unusual way:
he seems to light an ordinary wooden match by flipping its tip
with a flick of his thumbnail. This occurs at 1:35 in this clip.
How is this magic trick performed?
[ http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/sites/default/files/Matches_1609-300.jpg ]
Mark Spahn
--
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**** Encouraged by the photograph, I rooted around in a kitchen drawer and found that we also have a “diamond” brand box of “Strike On Box Matches” (I would hyphenate it as “Strike-on-Box Matches”). Other wording on the box:
“greenlight” (the matches have a green head), Lights Quickly & Easily, 300 LARGE KITCHES MATCHES, Made in USA Since 1881, Includes wood from responsibly managed forests [Ooh, I feel so warm and fuzzy!]
CAUTION: CLOSE BOX BEFORE STRIKING, KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN
In smaller type:
The match tip in this product contains perchlorate materials. Special handling may apply in California. See
www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlorate
Two long sides of the box have a surface of what looks like millimeter-wide round bumps (maybe a twentieth as high as their diameter?) against which the matches are to be struck.
Naruhodo.
Mark Spahn
Further information…
On 5/21/16 10:16 PM, Mark Spahn wrote:
>
> Did matches in 1944 have the property of igniting when friction
>
> is applied to the matchhead? Sounds kind of unsafe.
>
Yes, and that old trick of flicking the end of the match with your fingernail was quite standard. Unfortunately, occasionally a piece of the phosphorus would get under your fingernail and give you a significant burn.
There was even a problem with a metal container for matches that boy scouts carried. It had a screw top that allowed you to turn the cylinder containing perhaps a dozen matches to retrieve one or more. If you inserted the matches with the heads outward, turning this metal cover could set them off in a large flare-up.
There is also a very sad aspect of the history of the so-called safety match. The women who worked in the factories developed very serious health problems.
There is a book written about phosphorous that I think you would enjoy:
Emsley, John (2000). The Shocking History of Phosphorus. Unfortunately, I do not find this book in either the UB library or the Buffalo Public Library; it is, however, available from Amazon for just a few bucks.
Emsley also co-authored a more technical book about phosphorus many years earlier. Gerry
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