# Did You Ever Play With Matches When You Were a Kid? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 1, 2014, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245 "2014-02-01T00:10:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/21 "2014-02-01T03:00:58Z")
Oh yeah. I used to take matches into the crawl space and light them, and bits of paper on fire. Once I decided that I would experiment in the dining room. You would not believe how flammable hair spray is; well, maybe you would. I don’t know what I was thinking, or doing but somehow I ended up with a fire on top of the tablecloth. WHOOOF! “Holy shit!” I was maybe 10 or 12 at the time. I folded the table cloth over and over upon itself and smothered the fire. I had some serious ‘splainin’ to do when my parents got out of bed. ---
**Author:** ![Artemis\_Tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@Artemis\_Tardis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artemis_Tardis)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/22 "2014-02-01T03:03:39Z")
No. Mum told me not to. Only shenanigan I did was stapling my own thumb. But I never had to use a band-aid during my childhood… until the day I was playing cops & robbers and tripped - still have a scar under my nose. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/23 "2014-02-01T10:19:49Z")
Side note: if you’re ever feeling a bit crazy and try to check in to some place, they won’t take you if there’s anything “arson” in your recent history. (Too great a risk.) ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/24 "2014-02-01T10:46:49Z")
Yeah, we lit all kinds of shit when I was a kid. My older brother showed me how to pour Dad’s shaving lotion over your hand and light it on fire. Didn’t hurt at all and it scared the shit out of our sisters. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/25 "2014-02-01T14:37:13Z")
No never. _whistles innocently_ Ok, see that scarred left thumb/hand. Yep, playing with fire. Never played with it again after that - heck, I had a hard time in around 8th grade when a school craft assignment required us to bring in a certain number of burned matches. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/26 "2014-02-01T18:45:48Z")
Yep, my friends, brothers and I played with fire many times- and we got our butts (deservedly) whipped for it several times. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/27 "2014-02-01T18:58:29Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > My older brother showed me how to pour Dad’s shaving lotion over your hand and light it on fire. I did this all the time as a teen. Such a cool effect, especially in a dark room. Pro Tip #1: Make sure that – when the girls are oohing and aahing at the über-cool bluish flame in the palm of your hand – you haven’t let a rivulet of aftershave trickle down between your fingers to the back of your arm. Just sayin’. = = = = = I used to take the innards out of a Bic pen and light the plastic tube on fire. I tried to see if I could perhaps make hollow balls or bottles like a glassblower. Watching the drops of molten, burning plastic fall to the ground was fascinating, and the smell was completely obnoxious! Pro Tip #2: Don’t try to shape the burning end of the plastic with your fingers. And if you do, don’t try to put the fire out by clamping your fingers together. Pro Tip #3: Do not inhale the fumes. They will not induce any kind of hallucinogenic euphoria, and will only seriously mess up your lungs, resulting in a horrible coughing fit. Just sayin’. = = = = = I also [del]had[/del] have a pretty cool “Jack-o-lantern” trick I [del]did[/del] do where I light a match and stick it into my mouth, clamp the matchstick between my teeth, and grin. Looks totally awesome in a dark room! The secret is to make sure the roof of your mouth is very wet so that there is a moisture barrier between the flame and your skin. Pro Tip #4: If your fiancée says, “Don’t burn yourself,” don’t try to say, “I know what I’m doing” while the match is still in your mouth. Your tongue will probably touch the end of the burning match and force it up so that it extinguishes itself on the roof of your mouth. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/28 "2014-02-01T19:01:44Z")
We had a designated “playing with fire” spot when I was a kid. Dad always had an old 55 gallon drum for leaves, old phone books, and other debris. As a dumb, bored, 20-something in a group home, I’d occasionally take an ashtray and burn up the smokers’ remnants. > [@Mangetout](#): > > make match-and-foil rockets My parents actually encouraged me to try that under the carport as a teen. Never could get those rockets to fly. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/29 "2014-02-01T19:09:12Z")
I almost burned our house down. I was 6, and playing with a box of matches in the garage. I was being very careful, burning some sawdust and stuff on the concrete floor. Hiding behind a box spring and mattress over in the corner. To this day I can still remember the single, tiny burning ember wafting gently over in to the box spring. It was filled with cotton, or fuzz, or something that looked flammable, so I watched for a moment to make sure nothing burned. It didn’t. Good. Better wrap things up here. So I went in the house, where my 13yo sister was starting dinner per mom’s instructions. We were the only ones home at that point. Eventually, we started smelling smoke, but it wasn’t from the cooking. When we opened the garage door, it was like every Hollywood movie. The entire garage was engulfed in flames. We ran across the street to the neighbors, and the fire department came. I didn’t know at that time how they knew to come, but our other neighbor was the fire chief, so I assumed he did it! Even though they found my pile of burnt matches in the corner, they put the cause down as spontaneous combustion of oily rags. I remember my parents telling me this, but I didn’t understand it at the time. Anyway, even though my folks were of the spare-the-rod, spoil-the-child school of parenting, they only sat me down and lectured me for a while, and I haven’t burned down anyone’s house since then! I did use it as a cautionary tale for my kids, lest one of them decide to start experimenting in the basement one day. I told them they could burn anything they wanted, as long as I was with them. They never wanted to. Weird kids… ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/30 "2014-02-01T19:23:04Z")
I used to make a shedload of paper boats, float them in a bath of cold water and set them alight. Fireships! ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/31 "2014-02-01T19:27:48Z")
I used to put sulfur matches in my BB gun and shoot them at rocks and stuff, it sounded like a firecracker when they went off. I was 10. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/32 "2014-02-02T01:24:26Z")
You remember [Estes rockets](http://www.estesrockets.com/)? I can tell you first hand that lighting one off in the living room will get your dad REALLY pissed off. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/33 "2014-02-02T01:27:42Z")
I never lit a match until I was 18 and I had to light my own cigarette, which is the stupidest thing I ever did. I remember the very moment. I was afraid of matches, but I decided to take up smoking and …:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/34 "2014-02-02T01:40:32Z")
> [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](#): > > But as one of us was starting to torch the unfortunate cabin, I spilled some gas on my hand which kind of went up with said unfortunate cabin :eek:. The Cub Scouts saved me on this one. I knew to immediately roll it in the grass right next to us and only ended up the a huge second degree burn and a blister the size of the entire back of my hand. Still can see some of the scar tissue. And what did you learn from that experience? Yep, you learned to be more careful when you played with matches. Matches are tools of Evolution to eliminate stupid kids from the gene pool and I am concerned that modern safety hangups are doing negative things to the species. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/35 "2014-02-02T01:45:26Z")
Oh boy. What a great topic. Yes, yes I did, lots of us kids did. In fact, there was an age (I think it was ten) that playing with fire was one of the best amusements possible as long as no adults were around. What could go wrong? Oh sure while camping we played with “the fire”, feeding it, poking it, cooking over it, making sure it was out when done, even getting to start it now and then. Huge fun when you are seven or eight. Fire. More fun than TV, more interesting than anything else at night. Fire. It’s like a living creature, you give it birth, you feed it, when it runs out of food it dies. It can grow, or shrink, or escape. It moves, it consumes, it excretes, it’s magic when you are young. Magic, and dangerous. “Don’t play with it”, we were told. Are you kidding me? Might as well tell us not to play with ourselves. Once you saw how easy it was to start a fire, and put it out, oh the fun you can have. It will be fun. We can control it. What could go wrong? ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/36 "2014-02-02T01:59:42Z")
Oh yes…me and my little friends were total fire bugs. You name an unsafe fire practice and we did it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/37 "2014-02-02T02:19:03Z")
We used to cover plastic army men with model glue and light them on fire. Then we once cut the tips off dozens of packs of matches, stuffed them in a paper towel tube, plugged both ends with aluminum foil, and touched it off through a hole in the foil. It went off like a roman candle, spewing flaming match heads all over the back yard. ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/38 "2014-02-02T02:38:34Z")
I would share my horror stories about it, but it would take hours to type it all out. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/39 "2014-02-04T00:59:01Z")
Never just played with matches per-se that I remember. My brother and I did make a match head bomb once out a couple of cardboard paper towel rolls. It was more of a Roman Candle than a bomb. Braced them in the dirt in front of our house and lit it. Started the shrubs on fire. Was one of the very few times I heard my old man say the “F-word”. Came running out of the house screaming at us and started jumping up and down on the hedges trying to put it out. It was a scene, man! ---
**Author:** ![FXMastermind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fxmastermind/32/7289_2.png) [@FXMastermind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FXMastermind)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-ever-play-with-matches-when-you-were-a-kid/680245/40 "2014-02-04T01:26:49Z")
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