Rumford Packaging Samples

The Rumford Company produced many products almost too numerous to mention. They also manufactured many of the containers in which the products were sold. They had their own department for manufacturing cardboard containers, tins, labels and packaging cases plus a print shop for their coupon items, paper trade cards and cooking pamphlets.

The bottles for Phosa – a soft drink, bottles for Horsford’s Acid Phosphate, carboys for Muriatic Acid and Sulphuric Acid are believed to have been made elsewhere. The early cardboard Rumford Baking Powder cans in several sizes were made at the company as well as the labels printed in several different languages depending on the country where they were going. The cardboard barrels containing Quadrofos (a textile wet cleaner), Kalye (a cleaner) and Lytona (also a cleaner) were made at the plant. Large wooden barrels for loose Baking Powder for commercial use were made in the carpenter shop.

Most famous and familiar are the many sizes of wooden boxes beautifully made with “mortise and tenon” corners in which the many sizes of Rumford Baking powder cans were shipped. These were also stenciled with the language of the country to which they were going.

Collectors obviously prize these beautiful boxes today, but the empties were put to good use before we became a “throw away” society. Because of the quality construction they made sturdy toolboxes as seen in this enlarged section of a real photo postcard showing a railroad track crew with their equipment. Other samples have had handles of various types attached and I am sure they were used to furnish many homes.

Many of the containers mentioned here are on display at the Hunt House Museum.