Still today, Solstickan boxes are sold, with four öre per box going to charitable causes. The artist Einar Nerman created the famous motif on the box with his son Tom as inspiration.
Einar Nerman
Einar Nerman is born in 1888 in Norrköping. In 1905, he drops out of high school to study art in Paris. Nerman then studies at several art and theatre schools.
During his lifetime, Nerman is best-known as a cartoonist for various magazines, including “Söndags-Nisse” (Sunday-Nisse). Nerman also illustrates several works by Selma Lagerlöf and H-C Andersen, writes his own pieces of music and composes the music for many of his brother, Ture Nerman's, poems.
Nerman lives and works, mainly as a cartoonist in Stockholm, London and New York. Today, some of the portraits he painted can be found at the National Museum and the Modern Museum of Art in Stockholm. Einar Nerman dies in 1983 on Lidingö, 94 years old.
Solstickan Foundation
In the middle of the 1930s, Olof H Hanson is on the board for Ekedalen’s orphanage. To raise money for their work, they start selling the Barnhemsstickan (the Orphanage match), which will soon be named Solstickan. In the 1930s, the lightning match is still a daily item for many people, and the demand is high.
The first Solstickan matches enter the market at the beginning of 1936. In October the same year, Solstickan generates 170 000 SEK. Today, a large part of the grant goes to researching childhood diseases and geriatrics.
Since 1986, the foundation has awarded the Solstickan Prize to honour initiatives for the health of children and the elderly. The foundation also hands out research scholarships and project grants.