This match safe was amongst various items collected from a sea dive in Port Phillip Bay. The diver was the caretaker of the Port Lonsdale Lighthouse, who dived on various wrecks in the bay during the 1960's. After the caretaker's death, his son sold off many of the shipwreck artefacts. The match safe was purchased from the caretaker's son in the 1990's by a previous owner of the Marine Shop, Queenscliff, Victoria. Pocket match safes or match safes were small portable boxes, or containers made in a great variety of forms and shapes, each with lids or covers to contain matches and retain their quality. Matches came into use around the 1830's and were produced extensively between the years 1890 and 1920. During this period everyone carried strike anywhere matches, so they could ignite stoves, lanterns and other devices. Early matches were unreliable and prone to ignite from rubbing on one another or spontaneously. Accordingly, most people carried a match safe to house their matches. Wealthy people had ‘match safes made of gold or silver, while common folk had ones made of tin or brass. They were made throughout the world including the United Kingdom, in the U.S.A., continental Europe and Australia. Significant English makers of cases were, Sampson Mordan and Asprey & Co. Significant American manufacturers of match safes include Wm. B. Kerr, Gorham, Unger Brothers,  Battin,  Blackington ,  Whiting, George Scheibler and Shreve & Co. Different patterns and types run into thousands as well as plain and decorative examples. They were also made in a wide range of materials, including pressed brass, pressed tin, gunmetal, nickel silver, gold, bone, ivory, the wood of varying types, early plastics like tortoiseshell and Bakelite, and ceramics. A distinguishing characteristic of match safes is that they have a ribbed surface, usually on the bottom, for lighting the matches. The item gives a snapshot into the social development through it's application in every day use match safes were used at a time when there were no safety matches and the early use of matches was a dangerous affair given they were easily combustive if rubbed together in a pocket for example. The item is also an example of the shipwreck artefacts gathered along the southwest coast of Victoria.Match Safe; hollow brass cylinder with ribbed match striker texture on base and screw thread around top. Fitted brass lid has an internal screw thread, and the top's flat surface has concentric circles design, with a twisted rope pattern grip around the edge. flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, shipwreck artefact, port phillip bay, port lonsdale lighthouse, wreck, 1960’s diver, queenscliff marine shop, match container, match safe, matches, fire lighter, fire safety, heat, fire, portable match safe, 19th century

ICI Fabrics Deer Park Opening 1928 E Thorne 22 Thompson StREET Sunshine 3020 93111034 Photograph Accompanying paper lists in separate book photographic subjects L-R. Back Row Jack Smith Jock Burgess Jack Davidson Tom Shaw Bill Power Roy Furzer Jock McLeod Stan Harding Ernie Bevers Tom Brumley Albert Sidell Jim Livingston Abe Thomas Albert Millership Bill Stephenson Bill Millership Jim Valentine Jack Smith Jack Ray Don Paxton John Smith Clarrie Hughes Norm Self Ron Govett Lance Neville Clarrrie Turner George Salmon Tom Strong Hec Ross George Peart Arthur Nicholson Frank Jenkins Dick Otoway Scotty Hood Jim Lawrence Alf Clayton Ted Roberts Lou Roberts Charlie Johnson Jack Broown Eddie Jock Buchan Bill Turner Jack Capper Cyril Reid Unknown Dan Maloney Bill Roberts Middle Row Unknown Joe Briggs Sen Ted Gorham Bill Baker R Shepherd Alf Ferringdon George Russel Jack Dockerty Andy Flannagan Mac Rodrique Jack Neil Union Delegate Harry Bowman Percy Smith George Clayton Mick Storey Jack Horan Ben Matthews Alf Hayes Tommy Hill Ted Hing Bob Norris Harry Hingus Spears Jim Reidy Joe Wilson Bill Robinson Wally Catton Jock Charmers Arthur Ayton Tom the Pom McIntyre George Farnsworth Fred Lewis Eddie McIntyre Jack Allen Reg Murphy Jess Ball Dan Mahoney Bill Roberts Front Row Annie McLeod Ruby Githens Elsie Wrigley Dorrie James Mrs Burland Lindsay Morton Trevor Frazer Bill Kendrick Bill Wilson Russ Matthews Bill Bailey H Jones Mr Gregg Jim Mace Tony Cox Unknown Bert Stewart A Stoneham Girlie Sturgess Winnie Burwood Bill Grogan Manager Miss Guthrie Dorothy Frazer Horace Ockley Harry Sutherland Alan Digger Slee Supervisor Mr Eckland Joe McIntyre Bill Pope Frank Stephens Fred Foley Jim Phillips Percy Spratling Dick Perry Jean Salmon Eza Wilson Pat Monahan Mrs Farrerdeer park, ici, employee, industry

Photograph Layout of original employees and possibly others at opening of Leathercloth ICI Fabrics Pty Ltd Deer Park Taken 1930 Front row Annie McLeod Ruby Githens Elsie Wigley Dot James Mrs Burland Lindsy Morton Trever Frasser Bill Kendrick Bill Wilson Russ Matthews Bill Bailey H Jones Frank Grigg Jem Mace Tony Cox Unknown Bert Stewart A Stoneham Girlie Sturgess Winnie Burwood Bill Brogan Miss Guthrie Dot Fraser Horace Ockley Harry Sutherland Alan Slee Brian Cornell Joe McIntyre Bert Pope Frank Stephens Fred Foley Jim Phillips Percy Spratling Dick Perry Jean SalmondIza Wilson Pat Monahan Mrs Farrah Middle Row Bob Bryant Joe Briggs Ted Gorham Bill Baker R Shepherd Alf Farringdon George Russell Jack Docherty Andy Flanagan Mac Rodriquez Harold Weeding Jack Neal Fred Lee Harry Bowman Percy Smith George Clayton Mick Storey Jack Horan Ben Matthews Alf Hayes Tom Hill Ted King Bob Norris Harry Spear Jim Reidy Joe Wilson Bill Robinson Wally Catton Jock Chalmers Tony McConville Arthur Ayton Tom McIntyre Jack Farnsworth Fred Lewis Eddy McIntyre Jack Allen Reg Murphy Jess Ball Dan Malloney Bill Roberts Back Row Jack Smith Senior Jock Burgess Jack Davidson Tom Shaw Bill Power Roy Furzer Jock McLeod Stan Harding Ernie Beever Tom Bromley Albert Sydall Jim Livingstone Abe Thomas A Millership Bill Stephenson Bill Millership Jim Valentine Jack Ray Don Paxton John Smith Junior Clarrie Hughes Norm Self Ron Govett Lance Neville Clarrie Turner George Salmon Tom Strong Hec Ross George Peart Arther Nicholson Frank Jenkins Dick Ottaway George Hood Jim Lawrence Alf Claughton Ted Roberts Lew Roberts Charlie Johnson Jack Brown Eddy Buchen Bill Turner Jack Capper Cyril Reed J Fowlerleathercloth, station road, deer park

Take a stroll through the average beverage aisle in your supermarket, and you might get the impression that tea has always come in small boxes with disposable tea bags. But before those easy to come by boxes, there was the rich and intriguing history of the tea strainer, a beautiful little tool that has helped our ancestors enjoy loose leaf tea for hundreds of years. Enjoying loose-leaf tea, and becoming familiar with this tool, can help spark an appreciation for your tea strainer and infuser collection, or simply inspire you to grow one. Documentation of tea tools such as the tea strainer appear in ancient history, the earliest models were likely made of bamboo, and later evolved into stainless steel, sterling silver, china, porcelain, silicon, and linen. During the Tang Dynasty in China, a small book called “Classic of Tea” was written describing tea utensils, and they were made to help Buddhist monks keep living things (such as small bugs) out of the drinking water. However, using a tea tool to keep run away tea leaves out of a cup did not become a cited use of the strainer until the 17th century when Dutch merchants made tea more readily available to those outside of the Chinese dynasty. British royals then increased the popularity of tea as their preferred beverage, and it was not long before a newfound fanaticism for tea in Great Britain spread to the American colonies, as did a growing demand for products that could separate loose tea leaves from liquid with ease and flair. Why did people use a strainer to separate out tea leaves in Great Britain and not in China? While the method of serving tea from a teapot with the tea loose in the pot was a practice used in both countries, the reason China may not have required a tool to remove leaves from their cup likely had to do with the types of tea leaves they were producing. The British owned tea plantations, in countries such as India, produced finer black tea leaves that did not require as much space to expand inside of a tea pot, where as the leaves prepared on the Chinese plantations would expand far more in the pot, and were therefore less likely to land or be bothersome inside a tea cup. This common approach to serving tea with smaller tea leaves required a solution to avoid ending up with a cup, and mouth, full of tea leaves. The obvious solution was a strainer basket. In the Victorian era, tea strainer baskets, similar to those still used in tea parlors today, were made to sit on top of the cup to capture the leaves when pouring the tea from a tea pot into the individual cups. Another solution was a tea-removing device called a mote spoon. Mote spoons act as search and rescue spoons to remove tea leaves from individual teacups. The tea would be brewed loose in the teapot, so any tea that ended up in the cup could be removed with a long handled spoon with holes in the spoon to remove rogue tea leaves and keep the steeped water in the cup. The handle also helped keep the teapot spout free of leaves and could help unclog any leaves trapped when pouring. Stainless steel tea strainers and tea infusers gained popularity in the late 19th century. Big name tea strainer producers, such as Tiffany and Gorham, could use fine silver to create quality, heavy, and sturdy strainers, for those who could afford it. There were many varieties of strainers at that time, but it was more likely that smaller designers who could not afford to mass-produce these quality strainers out of silver made them into unique shapes to attract consumers with lighter wallets. And borne was the tea strainer we are accustomed to today. Things took an unexpected turn for the tea strainer in the early 1900s when Thomas Sullivan, a tea merchant, shipped out tea samples in small silk bags. Customers did not realize that they were supposed to remove the tea from the bags, and instead boiled the tea, bag and all! The convenience of tossing out the leaves is obvious, and the popularity of tea bags is still seen today. Most premium bags of tea we are accustomed to today are frequently packaged loose for consumption, and when they are available in bags, the leaves are often crowded and do not have enough space to expand. While pyramid tea bags have become a more recent solution to this problem, due to the additional space at the top of the bag, enjoying a variety of quality tea is easier with a tea strainer in your arsenal. Besides, with the wide variety of strainers for your cup or pot in versatile materials such as mesh, silver, or a novelty silicone cartoon shape, loose tea can still reign supreme. Tea strainers sometimes do require more cleanup and measuring, but the experience and quality is always worth the effort. Besides, strainers also allow for mixing favorite tea blends together for an extra dose of delicious creativity! https://www.teamuse.com/article_170413.html The strainer provided the convenience of separating the tea leaves for disposal later.Metal strainer, bowl shaped, with mesh and twisted wire handle.Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, strainer