District de Hull in Gatineau in Outaouais, Québec — Central Canada (French-Canadian)
Le métier et les combats des allumettières
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 27, 2024
1. Le métier et les combats des allumettières Marker
Le Phosphore Blanc
En 1830, le phosphore blanc, utilisé dans la mort-aux-rats pour son effet létal, est introduit dans le processus de fabrication des allumettes. Pour éviter qu'elles ne s'enflamment, celles-ci sont encore humides tors de leur mise en boîte par les allumettières. Les vapeurs toxiques qui s'en dégagent et les résidus qui collent aux mains des ouvrières pénètrent dans leurs gencives et leurs dents, s'attaquant aux os de leur mâchoire. Provoquant une grande souffrance, tes parties infectées doivent souvent être retirées, ce qui défigure considérablement le visage de ces femmes. En 1895, la France interdit l'utilisation du phosphore blanc dans la fabrication d'allumettes. La Grande-Bretagne emboîte le pas en 1908, et les États-Unis, en 1912. Il faut attendre 1914 pour que le Canada l'interdise à son tour. C'est le ministre du Travail William Lyon Mackenzie King qui, touché par sa rencontre avec Alzire Deschenes, une ancienne allumettière défigurée par cette maladie, dépose en 1911 le premier projet de loi à cet effet.
Des Femmes de Tète
En 1918, les allumettières de la E. B. Eddy se syndicalisent pour contrer les conditions de travail difficiles et les dangers de l'emploi. Georgina Cabana est nommée présidente de l'Association ouvrière catholique féminine de Hull et Donalda Charron, contremaîtresse, devient éventuellement porte-parole de la branche syndicale des ouvrières des allumettes de Hull. Elles vont jouer un rôle déterminant lors des conflits de travail de 1919 et de 1924 qui opposent les allumettières à la E. B. Eddy. Les litiges portent surtout sur les conditions de travail, la question morale et la non-reconnaissance du nouveau syndicat. Si les mésententes de 1919 se règlent rapidement, celles de 1924 entrainent un lockout de trois mois. Cabana et Charron n'hésitent pas à organiser des manifestations, à lever des fonds et à soutenir les ouvrières au piquet de grève. Ces femmes de tête deviennent un véritable symbole de la lutte pour le droit des femmes et des travailleuses en milieu ouvrier.
The Profession and the Struggles of the Matchgirls
For more than 75 years, hundreds of women have worked at the E. B. Eddy factory. Young and single, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, those known as "match girls" pack and box matches under difficult conditions. The work week ranges between 50 and 60 hours, for a weekly wage ranging from $2.50 to $6.50. Fires break out daily, and the workers are exposed to a chemical that causes a terrible disease, jaw necrosis.
White Phosphorus
In 1830, white phosphorus, used in rat poison for its lethal effect, was introduced into the match manufacturing process. To prevent them from igniting, the matches are still damp when boxed by the match girls. The toxic fumes released and the residue that sticks to the workers' hands penetrate their gums and teeth, attacking the bones of their jaws. Causing great suffering, your infected parts often have to be removed, which considerably disfigures the faces of these women. In 1895, France banned the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches. Great Britain followed suit in 1908, and the United States in 1912. It was not until 1914 that Canada banned it as well. It was the Minister of Labour William Lyon Mackenzie King who, moved by his meeting with Alzire Deschenes, a former match factory worker disfigured by this disease, introduced the first bill to this effect in 1911.
Strong-Willed Women
In 1918, the matchwomen of E. B. Eddy unionized to counter difficult working conditions and the dangers of the job. Georgina Cabana was appointed president of the Hull Catholic Women's Labor Association, and Donalda Charron, a forewoman, eventually became the spokesperson for the Hull matchworkers' union branch. They would play a decisive role during the labor disputes of 1919 and 1924 between the matchwomen and E. B. Eddy. The disputes were mainly over working conditions, moral issues, and the non-recognition of the new union. While the disagreements of 1919 were quickly resolved, those of 1924 led to a three-month lockout. Cabana and Charron did not hesitate to organize demonstrations, raise funds, and support the workers on the picket line. These headstrong women became a true symbol of the fight for women's and working women's rights.
Erected by Ville
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Labor Unions • Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 1918.
Location. 45° 25.508′ N, 75° 43.124′ W. Marker is in Gatineau, Québec, in Outaouais. It is in District de Hull. It is on Promenade du Portage just east of Rue Saint-Jacques, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 55 Promenade du Portage, Gatineau QC J8X 2J9, Canada. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Ottawa Metropolitan Area and in the Outaouais & Eastern Townships. It is also in Central Canada. Globally, it is in North America, the Great North Woods, the Western Hemisphere, and the Western World. Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony, the Viceroyalty of New France, the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, and Rupert’s Land.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Bienvenue à Wrightstown (here, next to this marker); Les débuts modestes de l'usine E. B. Eddy
Photographed by Musée des sciences et de la technologie du Canada, Fonds E.B. Eddy/Domtar
2. Marker detail: Allumettières emboîtant et emballant des allumettes, en 1920.
Les photos dans tes fabriques d'allumettes sont rares, car le flash risquait de provoquer des incendies. • • • Match girls fitting and packing matches, in 1920. The photos in match factories are rare because the flash could cause fires.
Also see . . . Bringing matchmakers out of the shadows: Workers at the E. B. Eddy match factory in Hull (1854-1928).
Excerpt: Who were the "matchmakers" at Hull's E. B. Eddy pulp and paper mill? Exploited young women or committed union activists? Between 1854 and 1928, the women responsible for making 90% of the country's matches worked in a backbreaking and extremely dangerous occupation involving fire hazards and toxic chemicals. The consequences were disastrous for them. These difficult conditions and low wages led to unionization and the first "women's strike" in Quebec history.(Submitted on June 8, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)In this YouTube presentation, historian Kathleen Durocher tells the fascinating story of this anonymous workforce, a story pieced together from Canadian censuses, government, private and parish archives, as well as from numerous articles in scholarly journals and mass-circulation newspapers. Ms. Durocher has drawn up a demographic profile of the matchmakers, and will tell us about their daily lives; their role within the working class; their functions in the factory; their working conditions, the dangers of the job (especially those associated with white phosphorus); and their union activities, from 1918 to 1928 - when the factory left Hull.
Tragic and inspiring, the story of the matchmakers has marked the region and the country’s history for over a century but remains too little known.
Photographed by Musée des sciences et de la technologie du Canada, Fonds E.B. Eddy/Domtar
3. Marker detail: Allumettières emboîtant et emballant des allumettes, en 1920.
Matchstick girls fitting and packing matches, in 1920.
Centre régional d’archives de l’Outaouais. Durocher, Kathleen
4. Marker detail: Des allumettières à l’intérieur de l’usine E. B. Eddy, à Hull, vers 1880.
Matchstick girls inside the E. B. Eddy factory in Hull, around 1880.
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, May 27, 2024
5. Le métier et les combats des allumettières Marker
Looking south across Promenade du Portage.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 15, 2026. It was originally submitted on June 8, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 10 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on June 8, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
