Welcome signs on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Welcome, swagatham
Words and concepts like Welcome or swagath are often seen in Indian visual culture on posters, calendars and door signs to usher in visitors. Many matchbox labels show the words and related images of welcome.
Good Morning, Welcome, Svagatam
See a related Tasveer Ghar visual essay on Welcome posters by Patricia Uberoi, a scholar and avid collector of calendar art since the 1960s.
Foods on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Food on the matchbox
Among other symbols, attractive pictures of food items, especially fruits and other plant-based foods, are depicted on many matchbox labels.
Fruits on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Fruits
Fruits and vegetables are an essential part of everyday life and depicted liberally on matchbox labels. One sees colourful pictures of bananas, grapes, pears, mangoes, coconuts and cashew nuts, some of which are in fact grown in the regions where matchboxes are manufactured.
Local names for fruits like koyya (guava) and solam (corn) are used on many labels.
Flowers on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Flowers and plants
Pictures of flowers and sundry plants are used abundantly on matchboxes, their very presence masking the fact that matches are highly artificial and manufactured commodities rather than occurring in nature.
Landscapes on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Landscapes of nature
A typical matchbox label is a tiny space. Yet the artists have drawn wide panoramic scenes of nature and landscapes on them. Some depict sunrises, rainbows, hilly terrains, rivers or forests, some even show specific locations such as Kashmir’s Dal lake or Simla hills.
Although produced in Rangoon, Burma, this label features the Dal lake of Kashmir.
Wild animals on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Wildlife
Since wild animals are always part of the human imagination, their visual symbols are used abundantly in the matchbox labels. Lion and tigers are especially featured as they reflect power and fear. Many labels also show encounters among animals and between humans and animals.
Domestic animals on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Domestic animals
Cute pictures of pets or domestic animals often illustrate matchbox labels. These may range from dogs, puppies and cats to sheep, hens and rabbits.
Birds on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Birds on the matchbox
Many birds, from Indian habitats as well as some migratory ones, have been featured on matchbox labels, drawn in various styles.
Some labels carry the local names of the birds such as kuruvi (sparrow), kuil/koyel (cuckoo), myna (starling), kovil pura (pigeon), mayil (peacock) and murga (cock) etc.
Fish and sea life on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Fish and sea life
Fish is a popular symbols in many cultures, depicted in colourful ways, including in printed visual culture. Matchbox labels carry attractive pictures of fish and other sea life forms.
Many labels inscribe fish in local languages such as with words like meen, meenam or machhli etc.
Butterflies on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Butterflies
Colourful pictures of butterflies have been depicted on many matchbox labels. While some of these were manufactured in South Indian towns like Sattur (Tamil Nadu) and Mahbubabad (Telangana), some also come from Quilon (Kollam, Kerala).
Babies on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Babies
Images of cute babies are used globally to decorate homes or personal items. Matchbox labels also use them, showing us the manner in which the artists borrowed liberally from such ubiquitous subjects of the worldwide visual culture of modernity.
Some pictures of babies carry captions such as 'Papa' to signify a word that children use to call their father or other family members.
Men on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Manly figures
Images of masculinity evoke a sense of power in popular visual culture. Portraits of heroes, famous male leaders, or men doing “manly” tasks such as hunting or fighting wild animals have been depicted on matchbox labels.
Masculine leaders
Many male leaders such as Chadrashekhar Azad have been portrayed as masculine figures.
See a related Tasveer Ghar essay by Kama Maclean. The Embodiment of Quicksilver: Picturing Chandrashekhar Azad.
Women on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Female attraction
Pictures of attractive women are integral in South Asia’s popular visual culture, whether in advertisements, cinema or street posters. Matchbox labels not only depict well known women such as film stars, singers and goddesses, but also generic beautiful female faces.
Some matchbox labels also feature portraits of courtesans or professional singers popular at that time. Some of these were also seen in ephemera such as cigarette cards and other collectables.
Love and romance on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Love birds
India’s popular visual culture is obsessed with icons of love and romance in various forms. Matchbox labels too show love through icons like cupid, love birds, and love deer. Romantic couples from movies or historical legends like Laila Majnu are also produced on some labels.
Romantic couples dominate Indian popular visual culture.
See a relevant Tasveer Ghar essay by Christiane Brosius: The Looks and Sites of Love, Valentine’s Day Greeting Cards in Urban India
Various languages on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Many languages
Besides visuals, Indian matchbox labels feature texts in a variety of languages and attendant scripts—Bengali, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu—in addition to English. The names of the places, small industrial towns in many cases, also feature along with the manufacturer’s name.
Some labels use names or captions in more than one language since the matchboxes of a specific brand may be sold in a large geographic area.
Cinema stars and movies on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Cinema stars
Images of movie stars, and even an occasional movie poster, have been depicted on matchbox labels. These are not limited to icons only from the Bombay film industry. But given the south Indian location of many matchbox makers, they also feature movie stars from Tamil cinema.
Some matchbox labels may have worked as advertisements for the latest movie releases, such as this one of Raj Kapoor's Mera Naam Joker (My name joker, 1970).
This label even announces the showing of the movie Jawab (Reply, 1970) at a cinema called Imperial, probably in Delhi or Mumbai.
Sports on matchbox labels (c. 20th century) by Unknown artistsOriginal Source: Online archive by Tasveer Ghar
Sports and games
Images associated with sports and games are a recurring theme, perhaps also aimed at a younger consumer. Matchbox labels depict many sports popular in India such as cricket, hockey, tennis, golf, and polo. Some also represent traditional sports such as wrestling and hunting.
Kushti or wrestling is one of India's traditional sports depicted on popular prints like the matchbox labels.
See a related Tasveer Ghar essay by Namrata Ganneri: Pahalwan Portraits: Manly Consumers of Physical Culture in Western India.
See the next part of this exhibit: The images of new India on matchbox labels.
Design and text by Yousuf Saeed.
Images scanned by Umang Sinha. Processing and metadata by Mariam Fatima and Sourav Roy. All images are from the collection of Gautam Hemmady archived at the Tasveer Ghar.
The digitization funded by the Anneliese Maier Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany, awarded to Sumathi Ramaswamy (2016-2021).
