I read that the first match was invented in 1826. Historically that is pretty recent. So how did people light things such as cigarettes, torches and other things that needed lighting before that time?
Flint and steel "strikers" were common from the beginning of the eighteenth century. They resemble a blunted pair scissors, with a treated piece of flint in one end. By pushing the two together quickly, the user created a spark which would light flammable material like tow (linen fiber) in a tinder box. Before the pieces were connected, strikers resembled smoothed brass knuckles and were manually struck against raw flint. Indoors, it would be most common to light a reed from a lamp or lit fire and use it to light a pipe, candle, etc. http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter09/cold.cfm
Cigarettes first appeared in Northern Europe in 1830 in France (though they may have been in Spain earlier). Their popularity grew slowly until the 20th century. So there was not much lighting of cigarettes before the advent of matches.
Cigars, and especially pipes were the more common means of smoking tobacco before the invention of matches.
There were various means of lighting pipes or cigars or candles before matches. The most common method was to use a "spill" which was a straw or thin splinter of wood, or a thin stick of rolled up paper, or a "taper" (which was a very thin candle of wax surrounding a wick). These were often kept in a "spill holder" or "spill vase" (which often sat on the mantel over the fireplace). The spill would be lit in the fire, and then used to light the candles or lamps or pipe or cigar or whatever.
Antique spill holders and spill vases are collected today.
There was another method used particularly to light pipes. This was to use "ember tongs" to pick up an ember of coal or wood from the fire and place it on top of the tobacco in the pipe.
So, most things that needed to be lit were lit by transferring a flame from the fire. If the fire needed to be lit, then one would need to use a tinderbox.
Sources:
http://www.jewels-gems-clocks-watches.com/gemdict_en/index.php?le=E&la=E&entry=116601
Fun fact, the lighter was invented BEFORE the match
http://www.omg-facts.com/Business/The-Cigarette-Lighter-Was-Invented-Befor/20006