Posted 15 years ago
baaabsstuff
(16 items)
I think these were my grandfather's. They look like silver plate although the one is pretty shiney and they have been packed away for years. The shiney one has my grandfathers initials engraved on it, but no other markings that I can find. The other one is stamped C A.R.T. MFG CO PATENT JAN 12 04 (not 2004) I haven't cleaned either one of them.
the shiney one looks like a vesta but the old one looks like a cigarette case or card case ;-]
The A.R.T. Mfg Co. item is a matchbook holder for a paper matchbook, whereas the shiny match safe (vesta) is for loose stick matches. The metal strip inside held the matchbook in place while leaving access to the striker on the matchbook. Also, your item is tapered to accommodate the thick cluster of matchheads at the top and the striker at the bottom. I think if you look closely at "C A.R.T." you may be able to see that it is actually "LIC A.R.T." Several companies produced matchbook holders and would cite the A.R.T. patent.