
This episode discusses the health hazards faced by workers in match factories during the 1800s, focusing on the Match Stick Girls Strike of 1888 and the dangers of white phosphorus.
In the 1800’s taking a job at a Match Factory could end in a very slow and agonizing death as your body began to rot from the inside out. Time Stamps 0:00 - Intro 0:41 - Matches 2:20 - Working conditions 6:50 - Cornelia 10:06 - Phosphorus 14:17 - The Dangers of White Phosphorous 16:46 - Phossy Jaw 20:15 - Factory Conditions 22:05 - Annie Besant 25:33 - A Safer Way 26:41 - The Walk Out 28:23 - The Aftermath 31:38 - Banning White Phosphorus Sources: https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Match-Girls-Strike/ https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/library-and-publications/library/blog/phossy-jaw-and-the-matchgirls/ 2022 Plaque: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/match-girls-strike/ https://www.britannica.com/event/Match-Girls-Strike https://www.matchgirls1888.org/the-story-of-the-strike Additional references listed here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matchgirls'_strike Additional reading: Louise Raw, Striking a Light: The Bryant and May Matchwomen and their Place in Labour History (London, 2011) Lowell J Satre, ‘After the Match Girls’ Strike: Bryant and May in the 1890s’, Victorian Studies 26:1 (1982)Seth Coven, The Match Girl and the Heiress (Princeton, 2015)…
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