RO16P3 Geo. & O.C. Barber Match Co., Middlebury, Plate Proof on india

The Barber Match Company was founded in Middlebury, Ohio (now part of Akron), in 1845 by George Barber, who initially began manufacturing matches by hand in a small barn. As the business grew, his son Ohio Columbus (O.C.) Barber joined him at age 15, becoming a full partner by 1860 and significantly expanding the company’s market as its primary salesman. The firm was formally incorporated in 1865 as the Barber Match Company with George as president and O.C. as secretary and treasurer. In response to the high taxes of the Civil War era, the company used proprietary revenue stamps to prove tax payment. O.C. Barber took over as president in 1872 following his father’s retirement and later spearheaded the 1881 consolidation of 12 major match companies—including his own—to form the Diamond Match Company. This new corporate giant eventually controlled 85% of the U.S. match market, earning O.C. Barber the moniker “America’s Match King”