Diamond Match Company
Encyclopedia
The Diamond Match Company was the largest manufacturer of matches in the United States in the late nineteenth century. Jarden
is the current owner of the Diamond brand.
, and headquartered in Akron, Ohio
. The merger was managed by William Henry "Judge" Moore
, who would later have several steel firms absorbed in the creation of United States Steel, and had earlier helped merge several bakeries into National Bisquit
.
The Diamond Match Company took its name from the shape of the match's head that the company produced. In 1881, Barber's match business, the Barber Match Company, united together with several other match producers to create the Diamond Match Company. Barber served as the company's first vice-president and became president in 1888. While serving as president, Barber moved the Diamond Match Company's manufacturing operations from Akron to neighboring Barberton, Ohio, a community built in the early 1890s exclusively to house some of Barber's manufacturing companies. By the early 1900s, the Diamond Match Company produced eighty-five percent of the matches in the United States. It had plants in the United States, Europe, and South America.
While Barber had helped Akron and Barberton to grow into important industrial centers, many people, especially his workers, did not have a favorable view of him or of his company. The Diamond Match Company was known to pay its workers pitiful wages. Grown men only earned $1.21 per day; women earned seventy-seven cents; and children earned sixty-six cents. All employees worked eleven-hour days.
In 1910, after employees of the Diamond Match Company became ill from phosphorus necrosis or phossy jaw
(due to inhalation of phosphorus, a major ingredient of matches at the time) the company patented a non-poisonous match made using a chemical called sesquisulfide. In the first decade of the 1900s, the Diamond Match Company succeeded in producing phosphorus-free matches. Barber patented the process in the United States. President William H. Taft asked the company to release their patent to other companies, and in 1911 the company did so.
Another development of the research department of the Diamond Match Company was the manufacture of potash
for commercial uses. A chemical process for extracting potash from kelp
was discovered and worked out by W. A. Fairburn
, a chemist long connected with the Barber interests. Owing to this discovery, the price of matches did not increase when the start of World War I
shut off the old sources of potash supply.
Barber remained as president of the Diamond Match Company until 1909, when he retired from overseeing the company's day-to-day operations and became the chairman of the board of directors. Edward R. Stettinius, Sr., then became president. He had been associated with Barber since 1892 when he joined Stirling & Co. as treasurer. In 1908, he had been named treasurer at Diamond Match. Fairburn became president of the Diamond Match Company in 1915, succeeding Stettinius, who left for the banking house of J. P. Morgan and Company to organize a department to finance sales of munitions from the United States to the Allies
during World War I
. When Fairburn died in 1947, he was succeeded as president by his younger son, Robert Gordon Fairburn.
Over the years, Diamond Match Company diversified its products. This began after World War I
under W. A. Fairburn's leadership. By 1940, only half the company's revenue derived from matches. By the mid 1980s, the company was producing matches, cotton swabs, ice cream sticks, and toothpicks. It also was engaged in the lumber industry in the American Northwest. In 1986, the company's sales topped forty million dollars. That same year Diamond Brands acquired Diamond Match Company. By the early 2000s, Diamond Brands was controlled by Alltrista Consumer Products Company. It continues to be the leading match producer in the United States, manufacturing approximately twelve billion matches every year. Jarden
acquired Diamond in 2003.
Jarden
Jarden Corporation, is an America conglomerate of many well-known consumer product brands in the areas of kitchen electronics, kitchen cookware, kitchen tools, gaming, arts & crafts, home storage, and clothing. In 2006, it was ranked #585 on the Fortune 1000...
is the current owner of the Diamond brand.
History
The Diamond Match Company was established in around 1881. It was founded by O. C. BarberO. C. Barber
Ohio Columbus Barber was an American businessman, industrialist and philanthropist. He was called "America's Match King" because of his controlling interest in the Diamond Match Company, which had 85 per cent of the market in 1881. He founded the city of Barberton, Ohio in 1891 and moved his...
, and headquartered in Akron, Ohio
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
. The merger was managed by William Henry "Judge" Moore
William Henry "Judge" Moore
William Henry Moore was an attorney and financier. He organized and promoted or sat as a director for several steel companies that were merged with among others the Carnegie Steel Company to create United States Steel...
, who would later have several steel firms absorbed in the creation of United States Steel, and had earlier helped merge several bakeries into National Bisquit
Nabisco
Nabisco is an American brand of cookies and snacks. Headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey, the company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Kraft Foods. Nabisco's plant in Chicago, a production facility at 7300 S...
.
The Diamond Match Company took its name from the shape of the match's head that the company produced. In 1881, Barber's match business, the Barber Match Company, united together with several other match producers to create the Diamond Match Company. Barber served as the company's first vice-president and became president in 1888. While serving as president, Barber moved the Diamond Match Company's manufacturing operations from Akron to neighboring Barberton, Ohio, a community built in the early 1890s exclusively to house some of Barber's manufacturing companies. By the early 1900s, the Diamond Match Company produced eighty-five percent of the matches in the United States. It had plants in the United States, Europe, and South America.
While Barber had helped Akron and Barberton to grow into important industrial centers, many people, especially his workers, did not have a favorable view of him or of his company. The Diamond Match Company was known to pay its workers pitiful wages. Grown men only earned $1.21 per day; women earned seventy-seven cents; and children earned sixty-six cents. All employees worked eleven-hour days.
In 1910, after employees of the Diamond Match Company became ill from phosphorus necrosis or phossy jaw
Phossy jaw
Phossy jaw, formally phosphorus necrosis of the jaw, is an occupational disease of those who work with white phosphorus, also known as yellow phosphorus, without proper safeguards. It was most commonly seen in workers in the match industry in the 19th and early 20th century...
(due to inhalation of phosphorus, a major ingredient of matches at the time) the company patented a non-poisonous match made using a chemical called sesquisulfide. In the first decade of the 1900s, the Diamond Match Company succeeded in producing phosphorus-free matches. Barber patented the process in the United States. President William H. Taft asked the company to release their patent to other companies, and in 1911 the company did so.
Another development of the research department of the Diamond Match Company was the manufacture of potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
for commercial uses. A chemical process for extracting potash from kelp
Kelp
Kelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....
was discovered and worked out by W. A. Fairburn
William Armstrong Fairburn
William Armstrong Fairburn was a noted American author, naval architect, marine engineer, industrial executive, and chemist.-Biography:He was the son of Thomas W...
, a chemist long connected with the Barber interests. Owing to this discovery, the price of matches did not increase when the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
shut off the old sources of potash supply.
Barber remained as president of the Diamond Match Company until 1909, when he retired from overseeing the company's day-to-day operations and became the chairman of the board of directors. Edward R. Stettinius, Sr., then became president. He had been associated with Barber since 1892 when he joined Stirling & Co. as treasurer. In 1908, he had been named treasurer at Diamond Match. Fairburn became president of the Diamond Match Company in 1915, succeeding Stettinius, who left for the banking house of J. P. Morgan and Company to organize a department to finance sales of munitions from the United States to the Allies
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. When Fairburn died in 1947, he was succeeded as president by his younger son, Robert Gordon Fairburn.
Over the years, Diamond Match Company diversified its products. This began after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
under W. A. Fairburn's leadership. By 1940, only half the company's revenue derived from matches. By the mid 1980s, the company was producing matches, cotton swabs, ice cream sticks, and toothpicks. It also was engaged in the lumber industry in the American Northwest. In 1986, the company's sales topped forty million dollars. That same year Diamond Brands acquired Diamond Match Company. By the early 2000s, Diamond Brands was controlled by Alltrista Consumer Products Company. It continues to be the leading match producer in the United States, manufacturing approximately twelve billion matches every year. Jarden
Jarden
Jarden Corporation, is an America conglomerate of many well-known consumer product brands in the areas of kitchen electronics, kitchen cookware, kitchen tools, gaming, arts & crafts, home storage, and clothing. In 2006, it was ranked #585 on the Fortune 1000...
acquired Diamond in 2003.