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Paul Revere Matchbox
1920s
Diamond Match Company
USA: Ohio, Barberton
paper; wood
overall: 1 1/2 x 2 6/8 x 1/2 in.; 3.81 x 6.985 x 1.27 cm
Gift of George Ehrenfried
89.7.12a-hh

a-b: original white matchbox with red and white scene of Paul Revere on horseback; botton of box is a tray that holds matches and slides into top; reads "PAUL REVERE/ VEST POCKET MATCH/ THE DIAMOND MATCH CO/ LINCENSED MATCH/ PAUL REVERE/ NON-POISONOUS MATCH"; c-hh: 32 matches; wooden matches with brown and blue tops.


Entrepreneurs have long used historical figures to help sell their products. Here, Diamond Match Company employed Paul Revere’s reputation for speed to suggest quick-lighting matches. Diamond dominated the match business in the early 1900s. One of the firm’s innovations was a non-poisonous match made without phosphorous.