February’s “Reminisce” magazine had an interesting article covering the history of the matchbook, which was patented by a Philadelphia lawyer, Joshua Pusey, in 1890. He sold the patents a few years later to Diamond Match Box Holder developed some time in the early 1900s by none other than George W. Newton, who officially founded Newton Manufacturing Company in 1909. No one knows whether it was named after him or the city of Newton.
Starting at the Newton Manufacturing Company in 1950, I was always fascinated with the interesting verbal history of this business. But very little had ever been put on paper. President C.A. Peck and vice president H.A. Lufkin used to relate how George Newton got the idea for this metal safety match box holder while at the Skow Brothers Machine Shop in downtown Newton one day. He noticed a box of wooden matches that had been knocked over and scattered on a work bench, commenting that they ought to have a place to put these matches on the wall to avoid the problem. A few days later he returned with a drawing, and Harry Skow cut the first match box holder from a piece of stovepipe. A price book from 1920 lists it as selling for 12 cents, including a white enamel imprint on the front of the holder, In 1,000 lots it was only 11 cents.
This same 1920 price book listed the No. 9 Model T Ford 15” wooden gas gauge, No. 11 ice pick, No. 12 two-cup flour sifter, No. 16 fly swatter and also priced the No. 17 auto safety match box holder. It held a small one-cent box of matches and clipped right to the steering wheel. Most of these items remain in the Newton Manufacturing Company archives and are valuable treasures.
I wrote the first brief history of NMC going back to the early days of George Newton from those verbal stories I heard in my younger days on the job. Much of it was used in a historic booklet distributed on the company’s 100th anniversary in 2009. Photos of the original buildings were fascinating, along with pictures of the original box holder. I have a couple of the custom printed ancient match box holders, which are among my prized possessions.
Most old timers remember this black match box holder because it had a spot in everyone’s kitchen right by the wood fired cook stove. It measured 5 inches tall, 3 inches wide and the same in depth. A nickel box of 500 matches fit neatly inside, with a little trough at the bottom where one match at a time could be extracted. Hanging higher on the wall meant the matches could be kept safely out of reach of children. The whole front could be used for a nicely decorated advertiser’s imprint. One of mine came from the Matson Service Station in Newhall probably 75 years ago, if not longer. It was a later design with a little lid at both the top and bottom. The imprint is still quite visible after all these years.
Some nostalgic newspaper articles I have collected over the years always relate to this popular metal match “Safe” that was a best-seller throughout the advertising industry for year. A Dec. 18, 1926, feature article in the Newton Daily News mentions the 14,000 orders that were shipped the previous year. It states, “Numerous articles like the match holder, kitchen tongs and thermometers are part of a line of three dozen useful items to catch the fancy of gift buyers and advertisers.” C.A. Peck was the sole owner until the devastating fire of June 1943 destroyed the entire factory. Then a handful of others were given stock privileges as the company was reorganized, and later some of the younger team including myself. Time marches on as the fascination of historic happenings remains.
I stopped at the grocery store recently to see if these original 5-cent cardboard boxes of wooden matches still are available. Yes, they are — $2.60 for a three pack. How times have changed.