England's Glory
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England's Glory is a brand of non-safety matches, available in the United Kingdom, using a celebrated image of a Victorian battleship, HMS Devastation.
The product was originally made in the still-standing 'Moreland's Match Manufactory' in Bristol Road, Gloucester by S. J. Moreland and Sons, who became a subsidiary of Bryant & May in 1913, although full ownership by Bryant and May only came in 1938.[1]
Consolidation of match production within Great Britain led to Bryant and May's matches being made at Garston in Liverpool, London and Glasgow. England's Glory then became a brand for matches made at Bryant and May's Garston factory which were sold mainly in the North of England and the Midlands.[1] The matches made in Glasgow were marketed in Scotland as Scottish Bluebell matches.[1]
The firm of Bryant & May ceased to exist in the 1980s, but England's Glory and Scottish Bluebell branded matches have stopped being manufactured in Sweden by the company Swedish Match.[2] The modern England's Glory matchbox design is, however, not the previous design, which used to have jokes printed on the back, submitted by members of the public. One example was: "A visitor to London annoyed a cabbie by boastful comparisons of English and American buildings. When they reached the Thames, the American said, 'Driver, what's that trickle?' Cabbie, 'Heavens! My radiator has burst!' "