Instruments built from matchsticks

What would you do with a matchstick after using it. We'll just throw it away. Every year, tons of used matchsticks are disposed. Why would we want to keep used matchsticks anyway?

One man came up with a ingenious solution, use the burnt wooden matchsticks to build musical instruments.
This man is no other than Jack Hall. Back in the 1930's when Jack Hall was in his early twenties, he was a sailor working aboard the tramp steamer Eastwick, in the English channel. Daily routine in those days was monotonous and during the long off-watch hours there was literally nothing to do, as Jack explained, "You had to make your own amusement or you either went mad or melancholy". Jack started picking up discarded matchsticks and gluing them together in interesting patterns in order to pass the time.

Soon, he built a windmill, a lighthouse, a clock and numerous others - but he is not contented and attempts to build musical instrument eventhough he has no musical background. He began asking family and friends to collect and save burned matchsticks, and soon he amassed over 20,000. When his ship was in port, Jack would visit music shops where he could research and make notes of the weights and sizes of certain instruments. With the piles of matches around him, Jack started his first instrument - a violin complete with chin-rest and bow.

To create the curved surfaces of the instruments, each match had to soak to the point where it would willingly bend into the proper shape, then each one was bent by hand. We can only imagine the countless hours and patience it took. In the true tradition of a folk artist, Jack used the tools at hand, a knife, straight-razor, glue and a file, flat-irons, firebricks, pans full of hot water and anything else that could be used to give the violin the proper curve and hold its shape.

In a three year period from 1936 to 1939, Jack also created acoustic guitar, two mandolins and a tenor banjo. Not content to stop there, he also created cases for his instruments, using matchboxes that people collected and sent to him.

The war interrupted the creativity of Jack Hall and after his discharge from the army in 1945, he never seemed to find enough time to do his art. He only resumes his passion in 1970 and built a few more items along the way. The most remarkable thing was that through all the years of making these instruments, Jack had never heard his own creations played by a musician.

For many years the collection was stored in an attic. Then, in 1976 a Radio Brighton reporter/musician heard rumors of the collection. Jack was contacted and after the instruments were dusted off, they looked and sounded incredible.

In 1991 - several years after they had been played for the first time - Jack's instruments were played live on BBC Television by a quintet of professional musicians. Both the musicians and audience were amazed at the sound his instruments produced.

Jack Hall passed away in 1993 at the age of 86 but he left behind a collection which is not only treasured by his son Tony, but by all who have heard, seen and played them. Today the collection is loaned out for display and performances at festivals and museums.

Source : www.ibluegrass.com

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