| When, after the Crimean War (1853 - 1856), cigarette smoking became more and more fashionable (previously tobacco was only chewed, snuffed and smoked in pipes or cigars), the silver manufacturers began to switch their production from snuff boxes to cigarette cases. They had to insert into their new designs a space for the safety match, the invention patented in 1852 by Swedish engineer John Edvard Lundström and highly appreciated by its users. (see article: "Tinder cord and match/striker compartment in Russian cigarette cases".) |
