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Welcome back to Speaking of Her. For our Spooky Season Finale, Lucy leads us into one of the most haunting corners of women’s history — where industrial progress, poverty, and silence collided in the shadows of Victorian London.

We’re telling the story of the matchstick girls — the young women who worked long hours in match factories, dipping sticks into white phosphorus that slowly poisoned them from the inside out. What followed was a terrifying and agonizing condition called Phossy Jaw — where their bones literally glowed before they decayed.

In this eerie, unforgettable spooky season finale, we explore:

• The deadly factories where women and teenage girls labored under toxic conditions
• How white phosphorus ravaged the jaw, teeth, and face — and why factory owners ignored it
• The groundbreaking strike led by these women that changed labour history
• The lasting legacy of their courage in the fight for safe, dignified work

This Halloween, we’re not chasing legends or monsters.
We’re facing a very real horror: what happens when women’s pain is seen as the cost of doing business.

A glowing jaw. A silenced workforce.
 And a revolt that caught fire.

Trust us — this is one story that will linger long after the episode ends.

Sources: allthatsinteresting.com
en.wikipedia.org
entandaudiologynews.com
rcseng.ac.uk
archive.org
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Note: Our discussion of the factory owners refers to historical events and practices. The brand today is owned by a respected Swedish company and is not associated with those past issues. 

We refer to the episode with Justine on this episode, go check it out! Surviving the Unthinkable - Justine Barwick's Story.

Follow us on Instagram to check out our Norway day trip highlight! 

Keywords

Matchstick girls, Phossy Jaw, white phosphorus poisoning, factory strike, Victorian factory workers, spooky season finale, women’s labor rights, labor movement history, dark history podcast, women in history podcast, industrial revolution labor, workplace safety history, feminist true crime, haunting true story, real-life horror, historical medical mystery, exploited women workers, Victorian London history, occupational disease history, untold women’s stories, Speaking of Her podcast, Halloween special episode, chilling true story, horror meets history, feminist labor history, match factories, 19th century women workers, hidden history of women, eerie historical stories, spooky season podcast finale

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