A chap working in the Chicago Steel Mills invented this trick and passed it on to me. You can have a great deal of fun with it.

Prepare about a dozen matches in the following manner. Cover the head and a small portion of the wood below the head with ink. You can do this by dipping the heads in ink or you can prepare the matches in a moment using a fountain pen.

Carry a supply with you and when you have an opportunity, secretly drop several of them into an ashtray. The inked heads pick up some ash and, in short, become indetectable even at close range from genuine burnt matches.

Ten minutes or so later offer to demonstrate a remarkable scientific phenomena. Ask for the ash tray and pick out a genuine burnt match first. Breathe on it and strike it. Nothing happens so you try again. This time locate a fake burnt match, breathe on it and strike it with a triumphant flourish. Success depends upon your ability to assume that I-wouldn’t-cheat-you-for-the-world attitude.