Matchbox Museum | Museums of Serbia

Matches as a technological and marketing "wonder"

Matches, igniters, or splints, at the beginning of the 19th century, represented, believe it or not, a kind of technological innovation in the world.

Originally invented in England, due to their significant function and extremely practical packaging, they quickly spread all over the world at the beginning of the 20th century, gaining an additional purpose - marketing.

Matchboxes thus became a popular means of advertising various products and services worldwide. Slogans, various motifs, symbols, cartoons, historical events, replicas of famous artworks, and diverse inscriptions in different colors and languages were printed, drawn, and painted on them.

Collecting matches - from hobby to museum

The widespread presence of these colorful and practical little boxes led to the emergence of a charming hobby - match collecting, which became extremely popular in the mid-20th century.

One of the largest collectors - a philumenist, at the time, was the renowned Yugoslavian actress and costume designer Jasna Novak. Thanks to her rich match collection, an exceptionally original and unique Matchbox Museum was established a few years ago, located in Sremski Karlovci and privately owned.

The collection of matches, continuously expanding, currently counts around 40,000 exhibits from all parts of the world and is considered the second-largest collection in Europe. The first one is in the identical museum in Stockholm, but since it only contains "domestic" matches from Swedish manufacturers, the museum in Sremski Karlovci could be labeled as the owner of the largest collection of international matches in Europe! Among them, there are boxes and igniters of various shapes, sizes, designs, and materials, from unusually large ones to "micro" matches measuring only 1 centimeter.

There are also Japanese matches that represent true miniature works of art, as well as Italian ones with replicas of famous Renaissance paintings on their boxes. The match collection covers a period of about 170 years and represents a kind of chronicle of social changes and trends in the world.

Therefore, if your journey takes you through Sremski Karlovci, I highly recommend visiting this charming, extraordinary, and largest museum of its kind in Europe, in addition to other attractions of this beautiful town.