That Thing on the Wall

The guestroom must be the most photographed and well-documented interior of #92.  The famous bedstead, dresser and dresser ornaments, photos on the wall, carpet and wall paper pattern are easily seen, but until 2001, the odd little blob to the left of the photo above Abby’s head was undisclosed.  Purely by accident, I found this object one day on ebay and learned it is a match safe. One side holds new matches, the other side holds used matches, with the striker in the middle.  These items came in all sorts of designs and materials. The one in the 1892 photo appears to be of wood.  The match safe is at a fairly low height which may be because Abby was a short woman.  Each room in the Borden home would have had one of these handy household conveniences as Andrew Borden used only candle and kerosene to light his house.  The little platforms on the sides of the bureau mirror and frequently seen on the ends of the high headboard were to hold a candle or small lamp-which made reading one’s Bible easy in bed!  Today there is a brass match safe in place which resembles the one of many years ago.