AKRO’S FIRST FOUR DISPLAY BOXES

 

By George Sourlis

 

            Akro Agate Company began in early 1911 in Akron, Ohio as a jobber of M.F. Christensen & Son Company’s marbles.  They bought M.F.C.’s marbles, repackaged them under their own name, and sold them.  My current information indicates that for their first 3 years they remained in Akron; they had no manufacturing facilities there, but they had a packaging and sales area at 220 Main Street.  This startup business was forced to think small from the beginning.  They had no large world wide customer base like M.F.C.  Without a customer base and without past experience in selling marbles, they had to focus on low-volume sales to build their business while maintaining a low risk.

 

 

            In 1914, when they decided to start a full-scale production facility in Clarksburg, West Virginia, they used an ingenious mini-volume marketing scheme.  They had learned they could package and sell small volumes of 5 to 10 marbles each directly to children rather than selling them by the “onesies” out of counter display boxes (see my article on their counter display box in this newsletter Vol. 12)  One of their earliest Clarksburg small keystone-shaped boxes is shown in Plate 1.  This box is of the same size and style as one of M.F.C.’s salesman’s sample boxes.  (Akro also had a 9-count keystone-shaped box at this time.)

 

 

PLATE 1 SMALL AKRO KEYSTONE BOX-ON PAGE 96 OF MARLBE MANIA

 

            Mini-volume sales during their startup were encouraging enough for them to approach the P.R. Warren Company of Boston, Massachusetts.  Apparently Akro asked the company to design small boxes suitable for the sale of 5 to 10 marbles.  It is unknown whether Akro suggested the opening in the box face or the designer, Peter R. Warren, came up with this idea on his own.  He patented the design for the P.R. Warren Company (Plate 2).  The patent was broad enough to cover box size variations and variable hole and slot designs.

 

 

PLATE 2 PAPER BOX PATENT BY PETTER R. WARREN JULY 13, 1915

 

            Akro immediately recognized these slotted boxes as an excellent way to market mini-volumes of marbles.  It began testing the market with its first 4 small display boxes shown in Plate 3.  Notice that each box references the 1915 patent.

 

 

PLATE 3 AKRO’S FIRST 4 SMALL DISPLAY BOXES

 

 

                        One pair of boxes holds a single row of 5 or 6 marbles; the other 2 are twice as wide to hold about 10 marbles each.  The design of the opening is different in each box.  One double-width box has a rectangular slot.  One single-width box just has 2 slots.  The other 2 boxes, 1 single-width and 1 double-width, have a hole in the center of the facing side.  (I call these center-hole sleeve boxes; see my article Vol. 7 of this newsletter).  Four different color combinations were used on these boxes.  Notice the innovative printing of the term “AKRO AGATES” in relationship to the various openings.  Finally, common to all of the boxes is the company name, location, and logo.  (The logo on the light blue and white box is on its sides not shown in Plate 3).

 

            Today 19 different small Akro display boxes are known to exist.  The rectangular opening is found only in the box in Plate 3.  The 4 corners of the opening are weak points.  If the box is partly filled, marbles can just roll out through the opening, which is too wide.  This box has an overall pink cast – a girl’s color – not one for boys, Fancy print fonts were not used again.

 

            The marketing advantages of these boxes are terrific.  The boxes themselves are colorfully decorated.  The openings allow the contents to be seen directly.  There’s no intervening cellophane with its glare and ability to accumulate grime and dust.  The colors of the marbles add to the color of the box.  The marbles can be touched and turned to inspect the quality and pattern.  Tactile access directly to a quality product increases sales.

 

            None of these boxes is numbered.  Numbering began in 1927.

 

            I’d like to thank Hansel DeSousa for letting me use pictures of his boxes in this article.