Here is an original wartime box of matches made by “Monopolverwaltung Reichskommisar Ukraine.” This was a legal monopoly created to give the German state the profits from the sale of matches.
![](https://festung.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/matches1.jpg)
These matches could have been used by soldiers or civilians. They are packaged in a small wooden box covered with purple paper. Two sides of the box have had a coating applied that allows them to be used as a striking surface for the matches.
The label for the matchbox is crudely printed on thin, inferior quality wartime paper. The print quality is terrible.
![](https://festung.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/matches2.jpg)
The simple graphics and shoddy print quality make this label easy to reproduce from a cleaned-up scan.
![](https://festung.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/matches3-1.jpg)
Here is that original box again, together with a reproduction I made by putting this label and some purple construction paper on a modern match box. The one at the bottom is a reproduction that I made that was used at a reenactment event, where it got wet and dirty.
![](https://festung.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/matches5.jpg)
With some effort it would be possible to craft a small wooden match box that would be an almost exact copy of the original. Here’s a link to a PDF version of the sheet of labels.