Object Record
Images
Additional Images [3]
Metadata
Object ID # |
1975.048.001 |
Object Name |
Machine, Vending |
Title |
Eddy One-Cent Matchbox Dispenser |
Lexicon category |
5: T&E For Science & Technology |
Date |
c. 1900? |
Year Range from |
1900 |
Year Range to |
1916 |
Made |
Eddy |
Place of Origin |
Unknown |
Description |
EDDY one-cent matchbox dispenser, c. 1900? There is a brown-finished, squarish wooden base, with a metal chute for the match boxes. It has a metal turning handle. It has four painted, cast-iron claw feet. "ONE CENT" is cast near the coin slot. There is a colourless glass dome, with a decorative textile fringe inside it. There are pale blue areas inside printed with "EDDY MATCHES" "1" (and a cent symbol) and "BOX". The panels each have a decorative black margin line as well. There no longer are any match boxes inside it. One Canadian 1916 penny was found in the machine when it was catalogued. |
Makers mark |
No mark seen--would have had to have been a foundry for the top part and feet |
Provenance |
This EDDY matchbox dispenser was intended to be sat on a store counter and is likely a circa 1900 item. It was used at the old Queen's Hotel at Holland Centre in Holland Township, Grey County. The Queen's Hotel building was operated by a Mr. McKinley. The previous owner, Mrs. Mabel Henderson, purchased the building in 1928 from another owner, Mr. Harvey Gibbons. She found the dispenser in the building when she bought it, and kept it, but she did not use it in the store that she set up in the former hotel building. In 1894, a listing of Holland Centre, Grey County's businesses records that a John McCutcheon operated a hotel there that was established in 1888. It was the only hotel there at the time. Holland Centre was located along the C.P.R. There is an image of the exterior of the hotel building in the Grey Roots archives (see 1961.064.033. The book THE PATHS THAT LED TO HOLLAND: A HISTORY OF HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, 1983, pp. 168-169, 172, has the following: "For the benefit of travellers, the Queen's Hotel was built on the north-east corner of Thirty Sideroad and Number 10 Highway. It was built by R. M. Galbraith, and run by William Vogan. Mr. Galbraith also was an auctioneer. The first building was burned but was rebuilt. There was, of course, a bar, and all alcoholic beverages were sold. McKinleys were the next owners. When a fight was started in the bar, Mr. McKinley's weapon was an empty whiskey bottle held securely by the neck. The disorderly clients were told it would be broken over their heads if fighting wasn't stopped. That threat proved very effective. The hotel was called "Little Hell" by those who did not approve of drinking and rowdiness. The Local Option Bill was passed, and this prohibited the sale of liquor or beer. At the east side of the hotel was a stable or shed to feed and shelter the horses. After the Local Option Vote, the hotel was changed into a general store by Miss Bessie McKinley, but it was still used as a hotel. Harvey Givens was the next storekeeper, followed by Mrs. M. [Mabel] Henderson. Mr. and Mrs. M. Jackson bought the store in August, 1969, and ran the business for several years. They sold it to Mr. Mastroangelo. It was, by this time, divided into apartments, and at the time of writing (1982), the building is unoccupied." An 1894 directory listed The E.B. Eddy Manufacturing Co. of Hull, Quebec as being established in 1865. This company produced Eddy matches. |
Collection |
Commercial Equipment Collection |
Material |
Metal/Glass/Textile/Wood/Finish/Paint/Ink |
Dimensions |
H-23.622 W-12.205 L-13.976 inches |
Found |
Holland Centre, Township of Chatsworth, Grey County |
People |
Henderson, Mabel McKinley, William |
Search Terms |
Holland Centre |
Function |
A factory-made, mass-produced dispensing machine for a brand of matches. It was meant to be sat on a store or hotel counter and a customer would insert a penny coin and turn the handle to purchase a box of matches. Canadian penny coins had a larger diameter than they later had, hence the width of the coin slot. |