[a. Swed. tändstickor matches, pl. of tändsticka, f. tända to light, kindle + sticka splinter, spill. The Eng; popular use was taken from the word ‘Tändstickor,’ i.e., ‘matches,’ on boxes of matches made in Sweden.] More fully, tandstickor match, a cheap kind of lucifer match imported from Sweden.
1883. A. R. Colquhoun, Across Chrysê, II. vii. 84. English needles, thread, matches, buttons, a few piece-goods, and coloured cloths and Tändstickör matches, were the most prominent, and, it might almost be said, the only foreign goods.
1884. Pall Mall G., 19 July, 20/1. Who ever sees the Tändstickors nowadays except in Continental hotels?
1889. Rider Haggard, Allan’s Wife, etc., 313. It was a ‘tandstickor’ match, and burnt slowly and dimly.
1898. Westm. Gaz., 3 June, 4/3. The public which purchases the ordinary or tandstickor match.
