SPY MAGAZINE MARCH 1990 SCOOP White House Matches MADE IN CANADA! with quote from Joe Danon
Hilarious mention in Spy Magazine March 1990 Naked City Column exposing the fact that the White House's Official Presidential match books (for then Pres. George Bush Sr,) were produced in Canada!
At that time, I was the NY Sales Manager at the now defunct Universal Match Corp. that had recently moved it's last remaining US match factory to Canada from Hudson NY. I was quoted in the article responding to the intrepid reporter's question re. "The ominous legend printed on the bottom of the White House's matches that stated "Made in Canada" and "the potential firestorm of controversy" that it may cause. I told him "that we made the type very small and discrete as we were aware that we were dealing with a national symbol so we took precautions."
Then the writer contacted the White House spokesperson and she acknowledged that the matches were foreign made but was otherwise tight lipped about the situation...
Spy Magazine was a very funny satirical publication. If you're a fan of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, that magazine would be considered the journalistic equivalent to today's Daily Show.
Ahh good times, good times.
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NEW YORK TIMES Magazine Article Who Made That? -Striking on the Modern Matchbook
Fun Match Fact: Who Invented the strike on cover match book?
"...Joshua Pusey, a lawyer and the inventor of the modern toboggan, patented a folded piece of cardboard carrying matches and a striker in 1892. .... legend suggests it had more to do with vanity than with safety. “I heard that he was a patent attorney and was always wearing suits and vests,” explains Mark Bean, President of the match division of New Hampshire’s D. D. Bean & Sons Company, which has been in the trade since 1938. “And that the box of wooden matches was bulky and awkward to carry around.”
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