Matches Appeal

An innovative animated appeal film for donations to send matches to troops in the First World War

Our soldiers need them! Matches might not be the first essential of trench life, but as British troops faced the grim prospect of Christmas on the front line they would be understandably grateful for any spark. The film was made by Arthur Melbourne-Cooper, a ground-breaking figure in early British cinema and stop-motion animation. However his later memory it was made for the Boer War seems false. Bryant & May’s appeal for donations also appeared in newspapers in late 1914 and early 1915, but at no other time.