Matchgirls' strike - Quiz
Matchgirls strike
  • 1. In what year did the Bryant & May match factory strike occur?
A) 1888
B) 1897
C) 1840
D) 1899
  • 2. Where was the Bryant & May match factory located?
A) Manchester
B) Birmingham
C) Liverpool
D) Bow, London
  • 3. Who helped the strikers achieve their goals?
A) The union of male dippers
B) The Royal Economic Society
C) Annie Besant
D) The factory management
  • 4. What was the initial reason for the strike?
A) Long hours
B) The dismissal of a worker
C) Low pay
D) Dangerous machinery
  • 5. What was the name of the union formed after the strike?
A) The London Labor Union
B) Match Factory Workers Association
C) Union of Women Matchmakers
D) The Phosphorus Workers Alliance
  • 6. Which wood was used to make the match sticks?
A) Birch or willow
B) Poplar or Canadian pine
C) Mahogany or teak
D) Oak or cedar
  • 7. How many matches did a single frame hold?
A) Approximately 1,000
B) Approximately 4,000
C) Exactly 10,000
D) About 500
  • 8. Which substance was used in match heads that caused phossy jaw?
A) Powdered sulfur
B) Potassium nitrate
C) White phosphorus
D) Red phosphorus
  • 9. What was another nickname for sulphur used in matches?
A) Brimstone
B) Congreve
C) Lucifer
D) Phosphine
  • 10. What is another name for phosphorus necrosis of the jaw?
A) Bone rot
B) Jaw fever
C) Phossy jaw
D) Match disease
  • 11. Approximately what percentage of phossy jaw cases resulted in mortality?
A) 5 per cent
B) 50 per cent
C) 20 per cent
D) 10 per cent
  • 12. Which type of phosphorus is NOT associated with phossy jaw?
A) Red phosphorus
B) Yellow phosphorus
C) White phosphorus
D) Phosphorus vapour
  • 13. How many matches were created in a ten-hour shift by an experienced worker?
A) Four thousand
B) Five million
C) One million
D) Ten million
  • 14. Who usually performed the dipping process in the match factory?
A) Children
B) Women
C) Teenage girls
D) Men
  • 15. In what year did a government report state white phosphorus levels were between six and seven per cent?
A) 1897
B) 1899
C) 1888
D) 1902
  • 16. Early matches were sometimes called by what name?
A) Brimstones
B) Phosphor-sticks
C) Flint strikers
D) Lucifers
  • 17. What occurred to the matches after being dried in ovens?
A) They were dipped again
B) They were halved into single matches
C) They were packed into boxes
D) They were bundled into twelves
  • 18. How many matches were packed into a single box?
A) A thousand
B) Twelve
C) A hundred
D) Four thousand
  • 19. How many boxes were tied into a bundle?
A) Fifty
B) A hundred
C) Ten
D) Twelve
  • 20. What is one symptom of phossy jaw mentioned in the text?
A) Toothaches
B) Blindness
C) Skin rashes
D) Lung failure
  • 21. In what year was the company Bryant & May formed?
A) 1850
B) 1843
C) 1861
D) 1884
  • 22. Who were the founders of Bryant & May?
A) William Bryant and an unnamed partner
B) William Bryant and Francis May
C) Johan Edvard Lundström and William Bryant
D) Francis May and Johan Edvard Lundström
  • 23. What religious group did the founders of Bryant & May belong to?
A) Catholics
B) Methodists
C) Anglicans
D) Quakers
  • 24. What items were workers required to provide from their own funds?
A) Matches and wood
B) Uniforms and shoes
C) Glue and string
D) Brushes and paint
  • 25. What was the fine for having a burnt match on the workbench?
A) Five pence
B) Three pence
C) Six pence
D) One shilling
  • 26. How much was the fine for being late?
A) 5 d
B) 1 shilling
C) 6 d
D) 3 d
  • 27. In what year did Bryant & May become a publicly-listed company?
A) 1850
B) 1843
C) 1884
D) 1895
  • 28. What happened to a girl who dropped a tray of matches?
A) She was fined 6 d
B) She was fired immediately
C) She was fined 5 d
D) She was fined 1 shilling
  • 29. In what decade did the matchmakers first participate in organized political action?
A) 1890s
B) 1870s
C) 1880s
D) 1860s
  • 30. Which monarch wrote to William Gladstone to protest the 1871 match tax?
A) Queen Mary
B) Queen Victoria
C) Queen Anne
D) Queen Elizabeth I
  • 31. What was the name of Annie Besant's halfpenny weekly paper?
A) The London Daily
B) The Worker
C) The Link
D) The Matchmaker
  • 32. What was one of the major concessions won by the strikers regarding meals?
A) A separate room for eating
B) A longer lunch break
C) Free meals provided by the factory
D) A ban on working during lunch
  • 33. How were grievances to be handled after the strike ended?
A) Through the press
B) Through the foremen
C) Through the police
D) Directly to management
  • 34. What entity opened a match factory in the Bow district in 1891?
A) Bryant & May
B) Salvation Army
C) The House of Commons
D) The Matchmakers' Union
  • 35. In what year did Bryant & May announce they no longer used white phosphorus?
A) 1888
B) 1891
C) 1901
D) 1908
  • 36. From whom did Bryant & May originally import safety matches in 1850?
A) Francis May
B) Tony Russell
C) John Edvard Lundström
D) Bill Owen
  • 37. Why did Bryant & May buy Lundström's British patent?
A) Lundström went out of business
B) The patent was expiring
C) They wanted to stop him from selling matches
D) Lundström could not increase production
  • 38. What newspaper ceased advertising for the Salvation Army's match factory after 1898?
A) War Cry
B) The Daily Standard
C) The Matchmaker Weekly
D) The London Times
  • 39. When did Bryant & May take over the Salvation Army match factory?
A) 26 November 1901
B) 31 December 1910
C) 24 February 1900
D) 11 November 2013
  • 40. The 1908 Act was the UK's implementation of which international agreement?
A) 1906 Berne Convention
B) The London Treaty
C) The Geneva Protocol
D) The Paris Agreement
  • 41. In which BBC series was the strike featured in 2013?
A) Doctor Who
B) The Crown
C) Peaky Blinders
D) Ripper Street
  • 42. At which band's concert were the matchgirls featured in a video tribute?
A) The Beatles
B) Queen
C) U2
D) The Rolling Stones
  • 43. Who wrote the 2019 novel 'Florence and the Mischievous Kitten'?
A) Bill Owen
B) Megan Rix
C) Hannah Dodd
D) Tony Russell
  • 44. In the 2022 Netflix film Enola Holmes 2, who played the strike leader Sarah Chapman?
A) Hannah Dodd
B) Beth
C) Florence Nightingale
D) Megan Rix
  • 45. What part of the match-making process did the Salvation Army fail to automate?
A) Box filling
B) Dipping
C) Packaging
D) Labeling
  • 46. What was the date of the final 'make-or-break' advertisement for Salvation Army matches?
A) 11 November 1913
B) 31 December 1910
C) 26 November 1901
D) 24 February 1900
  • 47. When did English Heritage announce a blue plaque for the Matchgirls' Strike?
A) 2015
B) 1951
C) 2022
D) 1888
  • 48. Sam Johnson is the great-granddaughter of which strike leader?
A) Pam McAllister
B) Anita Dobson
C) Louise Raw
D) Sarah Chapman
  • 49. Who wrote the book 'The Match Makers: The Story of Bryant & May'?
A) John Emsley
B) Louise Raw
C) Patrick Beaver
D) Reg Beer
  • 50. In what year was Reg Beer's book about the Match Girls Strike published?
A) 1988
B) 2011
C) 1983
D) 1989
  • 51. Which author wrote 'Striking a Light: The Bryant and May Matchwomen and their Place in History'?
A) Louise Raw
B) Seth Koven
C) Asa Briggs
D) Pam McAllister
  • 52. What is the specific medical term discussed in the 2012 comparison of 'Phossy' and 'Bisphossy' jaw?
A) Maxillofacial Osteomyelitis
B) Phosphorous Necrosis
C) Gingival Hyperplasia
D) Mandibular Fibrosis
  • 53. In the context of the nineteenth-century match trade, what Latin phrase is referenced in A. J. Arnold's work regarding innovation and economic returns?
A) Ex luce lucellum
B) Caveat emptor
C) Labor omnia vincit
D) Ad astra per aspera
  • 54. The 1890 Fifth Report from the Select Committee of the House of Lords investigated what system?
A) Sweating System
B) Child Labor System
C) Factory Sanitation System
D) Match Production System
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