Finnish match industry
Exhibitor : Ron Norris
The first company to manufacture matches in Finland was probably established near the town of Wearsborg.
The matches were first made by hand, and sold in bundles, but later the matches packed in round wooden boxes. Finally, after several years production, and installation of Swedish match-making machines, matches were sold in the familiar slide-tray box.
At first, no labels were used, the makers marks were stamped on to the wood of the box.
Later several new companies appeared, many of which established themselves in Kuopio District of Finland.
| 1841 | The first factory in Kuopio was V. MOLENKOFF in 1841. This company was later acquired by SILVENDOINER & COMPANY who were established in the mid-1880’s |
| 1844 | Other companies were established in Helsinki (Helsingfors) |
| 1861 |
Another early manufacturer was PORIN TULITUKKUTEHDAS O.Y. which was established in 1861. This company derived its name from Pori, the town in which the factory was situated. It traded until 1972, when it was absorbed into SUUOMEN OSUUSKAUPPOJEN – JSKUNTA a match company owned by THE FINNISH CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY. This company’s name is abbreviated to S.O.K. on many of its matchbox labels |
| 1874 | A. OLDENBURG established a factory at Tageluik, producing safety matches for export to the United Kingdom |
| 1877 | During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877, Oldenburg established an export market to Russia, but in those days match factories were being established in almost every country in the world, and competition for the world’s markets was extremely fierce. Oldenburg had to close his factory when he lost the market to the modern Swedish match manufacturers. He opened again later, but only for a short time; finally closed in 1920 |
| Mid-1880s | INGMAN & KARIN were also established in the mid-1880’s, but this company was purchased by THE SAVO MATCH COMPANY in 1904. ’SAVO’ traded until 1951 when they closed down and ceased production |
| 1919 | SOK began manufacturing matches in Vaajakoski |
| 1970 | FINN MATCH O.Y. began operations on 1st January 1970, and combined the operations of Kesko Oy, OTK (Eka) and SOK. The company issued thousands of advertising labels to several countries, including Great Britain |
| 1995 | The last match factory in Finland, Vaajakoski, closed on 30 November 1995 |
