Match Makers’ Union
The matchgirls’ strike of 1888 was part of a new mass activism on the part of so-called unskilled workers. Writers for the increasingly abundant newspapers circulating across the West picked up on the matchgirls’ situation, spreading both exaggerated and true stories of their lives, which at a minimum were full of danger from phosphorous, machinery, and generally bad conditions. The drama around the matchgirls helped sell newspapers. The idea that they were helpless “girls” rather than workingwomen, though disproven by their activism, made middle-class reformers flock to aid them no matter how rough they might seem. (© Mary Evans Picture Library / Alamy.)