DCHP-1 Online
wait-a-while match Hist. 
See quote.
- 1965 Perhaps I should stop to explain the "wait-a-while" match. In the early days matches were Chinese; they came in wooden blocks, split part way down, from which the matches were stripped one by one. At the end of each matchstick a dab of red phosphorus ignited the sulphur along a quarter inch of the stick and it was necessary to wait-a-while, after striking, for the sulphur to burn and the matchstick to take fire. They had a lovely smell.
- 1965 Perhaps I should stop to explain the "wait-a-while" match. In the early days matches were Chinese; they came in wooden blocks, split part way down, from which the matches were stripped one by one. At the end of each matchstick a dab of red phosphorus ignited the sulphur along a quarter inch of the stick and it was necessary to wait-a-while, after striking, for the sulphur to burn and the matchstick to take fire. They had a lovely smell.