Matches as we know them have not yet celebrated their 200th birthday
and enthusiasts have been collecting their box labels for the same amount of time
there were fire-lighting thingies similar to modern matches in ancient China
It took centuries and stubbornness to develop a convenient
as safe as possible and yet affordable object
When we talk about the history of matches in Kaunas
we usually refer to the Liepsna factory that began operating in 1927 as the Joint Stock Company of Lithuanian matches
The first match producers started their activities in Kaunas and around it back in the 1850s
The factories of that time had excellent names: Balkan in Žaliakalnis and Etna in Vilijampolė
not comparable to the companies that started operating during the First Republic
including the one that became Liepsna after nationalization a couple of decades later
the Swedes moved in introducing a monopoly in Lithuania and significantly raising the price of matches
which were essential for ordinary people at that time
were often divided in half so that a box would last longer…
the factory on Raudondvario Road produced 257 million boxes of matches in 1962
it was not just for us – a lot was exported
Aleksas has a lot of such Lithuanian Hungarian labels
Liepsna could not withstand the vicissitudes of privatization
the label lasted longer than the factory itself
Aleksas’ eyes – he is a real detective when it comes to finding inconsistencies
and curiosities – light up when he shows a clipping from a newspaper where a call to “buy a Lithuanian product” is illustrated with a photograph of a matchbox
the matches are actually made in India and only imported to Lithuania
the site of Liepsna is merely a grocery store
where you can of course buy the imported matches
I am also curious to hear how collectors living in different parts of the world communicate and whether they exchange labels
It is true that when Aleksas was collecting more actively
that “world” was limited by the Iron Curtain
so the new objects for his collection came from the so-called friendly republics
you can’t build a two-million-piece collection just through letters
every self-respecting phillumenist had connections in match factories
the foundation of Aleksas’ collection does not consist of loose labels (and certainly not those taken off matchboxes)
but large uncut sheets that came almost directly from the Liepsna factory
“They used to print in a printing house belonging to the association
Romas used to cut it,” he remembers an acquaintance and they both laugh
the most fascinating thing is not the number of identical labels
It’s the differences that are barely visible to the naked eye
due to the mechanical work of the machines
the same label can have dozens of variations
Just before we popped by the collector’s house
a letter from Estonia was dropped into his mailbox: an old colleague had sent new labels
but Aleksas mercilessly criticized the quality and aesthetics of the print
looking at the labels produced in the 20th century
one has to admit that some of them are true graphic design masterpieces
not all matchboxes are designed for the ordinary citizen who wants to light a cigarette or a stove
A great many so-called souvenirs were produced
the most beautiful views of Kaunas and other cities
It is also interesting to explore how the quality of paper and printing
the themes of the drawings (and later photographs)
and the symbolism are related to the times and systems
even such an innocent-looking object as a matchbox label had to meet ideological requirements
Anything could be criticized by decision-makers
you had to see samples of the labels to decide
Guess if Aleksas has any of those test labels that were never put on sale
which for some reason did not pass the censorship
The collection of 2 million labels is certainly not limited to Lithuanian labels or labels produced in the former Soviet Union
There are many exotic ones: non-existent countries
Some wealthier Chinese people travel around the world looking to buy their countrymen’s works
but Aleksas has kept some items for himself
Among the quite unexpected yet very logical items in the collection are ice cream sticks and other wooden objects
are quite convenient to produce at a match factory. 
fire safety warnings (or even AIDS awareness)
abstract drawings – essentially anything can be printed on a matchbox label
and getting uncomfortable with politically incorrect (hint – both red and brown) labels
but he is also well aware that this is not possible. 
“I have bought the collections of almost all the people from Kaunas
There was only one person I didn’t buy from – Judelevičius
who used to draw the labels himself; Sprindys and Šepkus also drew them
The labels designed by these people from Kaunas were the best and the most beautiful,” Aleksas maintains and regretfully points out that now no one draws or prints labels
He can buy a collection of 12,000 labels just for the one he really needs
Aleksas doesn’t keep any catalog of his collection
and he does not write down when he bought what
As he prepares to celebrate his 74th birthday
especially when talking about his collection
He laughs that maybe the fact that he likes sudoku helps him to stay young
I think the hobby and the tons of information he holds in his head also play a big role
but he finally tells me that he worked in an advertising company for a couple of decades
It turns out that he made the boxes he needed to store his collection! 
The conversation turns to the situation of phillumeny in Lithuania
The number of collectors is decreasing… Moreover
there is no such thing as a publicly available catalog of Lithuanian labels
Aleksas laughs that enthusiasts have been trying to create one for several years
but the ugly truth is that the largest collection of Lithuanian labels is kept in a museum in Moscow
Sometimes he shows a small part of what he has accumulated in exhibitions
The Kaunas City Museum held one about a decade ago
the Kaunas resident was invited by collectors from Kaišiadorys
The hero of this article was considering setting up a museum of matchbox labels in his former family home in Šančiai
If you think otherwise and have something to offer Alex
It would be a shame if such an interesting collection of ideologies
and many other aspects remained in the closets somewhere between Eiguliai and Žaliakalnis
The tram line was chosen out of four proposed options
Consideration was given to the movement of people
"This whole route is wide streets – Šiaurės Avenue
Pramonės Avenue – and that line was planned in such a way that there would be two more lanes for car traffic in each direction," said Martynas Matusevičius
head of the transport department at Kaunas City Council
which require streets at least 7 metres wide
were drawn following a feasibility study costing 200,000 euros
It analysed public transport car flows and interviewed 10,000 residents
The study found that trams are the way forward for sustainable and seamless transport in the future
The tram would run faster and accommodate more people in longer carriages by getting priority at all intersections
[...] The size of the city and the number of passengers is large enough for a tram to work," said Andrius Jaržemskis
The tram line would cost Kaunas around 240 million euros
with the municipality looking to negotiate with the government and the European Union for funding
Vilnius also dreamt of a tram a decade ago
given the potential obstacles in the old town
ideas for new means of public transport in the capital are still under discussion
"We are carrying out a feasibility study in Vilnius City
Our main objective is to identify the main axes of the city where a new mode of transport could be developed," said Arnas Misiūnas from JUDU
Sustainability researchers say the tram is one of the most efficient modes of transport to help reduce climate impact
it can go where motorised transport cannot
in pedestrian spaces," said Žaneta Stasiškienė
head of the Institute of Environmental Engineering at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU)