The Ohio Match Company was founded in 1895 and was the second oldest match manufacturer in the United States.
The matches that were made in Wadsworth, Ohio were beautifully illustrated and of highly aesthetic. Today many of them have special collectible value.
The private collection “The Matchbox Museum” has many matches of this company from the 1920s to the 1970s.
At first they only made wooden matches and later also paper ones.
This particular company developed into a huge industry. The factory located in Wadsworth, Ohio was the largest in the world and its premises exceeded 250.000 ft².
Every day they produced more than 300 million wooden and paper matches.
A catchphrase they coined in the 1930s was “safety matches”.
The Blue Tip Festival, a five-day celebration of the city of Wadsworth that began in the 70s and continues to this day, was named after the historic Ohio blue tip matches. The start of the celebration is marked by the lighting of a giant matchstick that stands over 20 feet tall, with a blue tip, and lights up downtown Wadsworth during the festival.