The Match Kings

Most people think that matches are useful only to start fires and light cigarettes. But not St. Louis' Rosenberg brothers. They think that the chief purpose of match books is to carry advertising. By selling this idea to big & little businessmen, the Rosenbergs have made their Universal Match Corp. the second biggest U.S. matchmaker (first: Diamond) with a gross of $12 million last year.* Last week President Adolph Rosenberg, 61, hailed a new Universal product as the first major innovation in match books in almost 60 years. The product: a match book with a waterproof striking strip that is expected to boost sales $1,000,000 this year. Adolph Rosenberg and his brother Samuel, 57, a Universal vice president, did not strike it rich in matches until after they had burned their fingers elsewhere. Adolph quit high school to work in the piece-goods business, later set up a woolen company with Sam, lost it, turned to manufacturing a mothproofing liquid, and lost that, too. Then the Rosenberg boys borrowed $100,000 from friends (among them: two of Detroit's famed Fisher brothers), hired 15 people and started making matches in a loft in downtown St. Louis. But they had little success until they hit on the idea of putting personalized ads for businessmen on the covers. Within two years (1929), Universal ran up $100,000 profit, has continued to be a moneymaker. Said Sam Rosenberg: "We like to think we got all our business hotfoots when we were young."

*Universal also makes Old Nick and Bit-O-Honey candy bars, which account for some 30% of the firm's gross sales.

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