Joshua Pusey
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Joshua Pusey (March 27, 1842 - May 8, 1906 (?)), was an American inventor and a prominent attorney.
Pusey was a Pennsylvanian attorney who was fond of smoking cigars. Fed up with carrying bulky boxes of wooden matches, he set to work to invent paper matches that would be lighter and smaller. His final design had matches secured to a thin paper wrapping with an attached striking surface. Unlike present-day matchbooks, Pusey positioned the striking surface on the inside of the paper fold.
He received a patent for his invention of the paper matchbook (which he called "flexibles") in 1889, but the idea did not catch on right away. Eight years later, in 1897, the Mendelssohn Opera Company distributed matchbooks with their logo emblazoned on them to advertise their New York opening. After this promotion, demand for paper matchbooks soared.
Pusey later sold the invention to the Diamond Match Company for $4000 in 1896.