RO144d Penn Match Co., Philadelphia, PA

The Penn Match Company, Ltd. of Philadelphia was established in 1881 and remained in business through 1891. Francis R. Abbott was the sec­retary and treasurer, while the man­ ager was Charles Kee. Elliott Perry (Mekeel’s, Sept. 11, 1920) has point­ed out that the firm’s address as given in the directory was not in an indus­trial area of Philadelphia, suggesting that the Penn Match Company may have been only an agency or sales outlet for matches manufactured else­ where. He further observes that the “Limited” connotes a Canadian or English affiliation. At least one match firm, the Cardinal Match Company of St. Louis, was set up solely for, the importation and distribution of Can­adian matches (The American Revenuer, February 1965, page 17). However, the “Limited” may have been no more than a somewhat pre­tentious substitute for “Inc.”