Thousands of companies manufactured matches worldwide and used a variety of fancy labels to make their brand stand out. The match boxes had unusual topics but some were much prettier than others. This cover features a man in a turban. It is an ad for cigarettes. A beedi (pron.: /?bi?di?/; from Hindi: ?????; also spelled bidi or biri is a thin, Indian cigarette filled with tobacco flake and wrapped in a tendu or possibly even Bauhinia racemosa leaf tied with a string at one end. The name is derived from the Marwari word beeda—a leaf wrapped in betel nuts, herbs, and condiments