Bidspirit auction | American Anti-Nazi Matchbox with Matches

American Anti-Nazi Matchbox with Matches in the Form of Adolf Hitler - “MAKE IT HOT FOR HITLER” – American Anti-Nazi Matchbox with Matches in the Form of Adolf Hitler – United States, World War II. An unusual matchbox designed to transform the very act of striking a match into a symbolic gesture against Hitler and Nazi Germany. The front of the box bears the slogan “MAKE IT HOT FOR HITLER” in large letters, with Hitler’s name depicted engulfed in red and yellow flames. At the bottom appears the instruction “CLOSE COVER BEFORE STRIKING.” Inside the box are nine matches (one has been used), each designed and printed as a caricature of Adolf Hitler in Nazi uniform, with his characteristic mustache, black hair, and a red armband bearing a swastika. The red match head forms the upper part of Hitler’s figure, so that when the match is struck, the figure itself goes up in flames – a deliberate visual play between the slogan on the cover and the physical use of the object: the user does not merely read an anti-Hitler slogan – each time a match is lit, he effectively “burns Hitler.” An interesting example of American home-front propaganda from World War II, in which Hitler’s image was degraded and turned into an object of ridicule through caricatures and everyday objects. Box: 5.5 × 4 cm. Tears and losses to the back of the box. Moderate condition.