I’m in need of a wooden matchbox. (You can ask why but it’s an awfully long story. Let’s just say I also need a figurine of a squirrel small enough to fit into it).
It’s ok, everybody. I’m no crazier than I’ve been for awhile now.
Miraculously, there’s not a “wooden matchbox” listed on ebay. Miraculous, since there is a Hulk Hogan toothbrush stand:
Except I don’t need one. I need a squirrel in a wooden matchbox. I know you don’t need an explanation.
Ok here’s the story: We have a 16 year old German exchange student living with us this year. (Leave her alone, amar.) She told us that two of the more difficult words to pronounce in German are the equivalents of the English words “Squirrel” and “matchbox”. We’ve kind of had a running joke with her around the house about it. For Christmas, I want to give her a durable reminder of this. A squirrel in a matchbox. Of course, I could settle for a standard cardboard matchbox, but I’d rather not.
Anyway, if you have a wooden matchbox or a tiny squirrel figurine, or, ideally BOTH, I need them and I’m afraid I have to insist that you send them to me immediately.
Sorry Dale-I just have figurines of an owl, circus bear, human cannonball and tiger from Red Rose tea boxes-but no squirrel.
-Suggestion for the matchbox-try an REI or other outdoor/backpacking/hunting type of store. Survival/waterproof matches from Coghlan’s and others often come in the traditional wooden matchboxes-just avoid the inextenguishable matches which use a lead compound.
Downside: You may have to buy a pack of two Coghlan’s matchboxes.
Upside: You’re prepared for next hurricane season or the
classic holiday power outage.
If you want a tiny squirrel, I’d suggest going to a toy store or even Walmart and looking for Spongebob memorabilia. Sandy is a squirrel. She sometimes wears a watersuit and glass bubble because she lives in the sea, but sometimes not. She’s very cute.
As a matter of fact, I have seen miniature Sandy figurines in quarter machines in department stores.
These Wade figurines used to be given away in some brand of tea-- they may still be. There are hundreds of different ones, and they are avidly collected (WAD=Wade aquisitive disorder). If this one is sold by the time you get there, just google “wade figurine squirrel”
If you get stuck for the matchbox, I might be able to make something similar for you…
I can’t help with either the matchbox or the squirrel (some time ago and for reasons I no longer remember, my daughter and I started pronouncing that word with two syllables, “skwi-rell,” instead of the local way, “skwerl”).
But I can help with fine-tuning a Google search. You can also do this by going to the “advanced search” tab, but all you really have to do to exclude words is put a minus sign immediately before it.
So your search would look like “matchbox -car” or, better yet, “wooden matchbox -car”.
We went through the same Squirrel thing with our Austrian Exchange student.
I thought I was going to be able to help you out but my Red Rose Tea squirrel isn’t actually a squirrel after all, It’s a Red Rose Tea Beaver. :roll:
I once or twice a year(on an emergency basis) work in a little store called the Party Shop, where we sell cake decorating supplies. There is a lot of little plastic animal figurines there. I haven’t worked there lately, but if you can’t find one, I will go check it to see if there are any squirrels there for you. Just let me know.
Instead of searching for matchbox, search for “wooden matchbox”, including the quotes. Also, try “wooden match box”.
Most of them seem to be collectibles, but not too expensive for a gift. The same pages that have the wooden ones often have them in cloisonne, metal, ceramic, or enamelware.
