ICE COUPON BOOKLET - THE MASSILLON ICE COMPANY, MASSILLON, OHIO - c1930's

Description

QUANTITY꞉
ONE Massillon Ice Company ice coupon booklet, circa 1930s,  selected at random from a lot of coupon booklets.
ADDRESS꞉
Canal and Loura Streets.
CITY, COUNTY & STATE꞉
Massillon (Stark County) Ohio.
TELEPHONE NUMBER꞉
6433.
BOOKLET PRINTED BY꞉
Southern Coupon Company, Birmingham, Alabama.
DATE ON BOOKLET & YEARS OLD꞉
Based upon the book's imprint, be believe the booklet was printed and distributed in the early 1930's making it approximately 90-years old.
PRODUCTS PURCHASED꞉
Prepayment booklet for 1,000 pounds of [block] of ice.
TYPE OF DOCUMENT꞉
Block ice coupon booklet.
GENERAL COLOR꞉
Cover is an off-white with red and black inks.
MEASUREMENTS꞉
5" x 2⅝" (12,7 cm x 6,8 cm).
NUMBER OF PAGES꞉
12-pages (1 "Agreement" page, 1 “Reminder” page, ten-pages of coupons).
NUMBER OF COUPONS꞉
20, (ten-pages with four 25-pound coupons totaling 1,000 pounds).
BOOKLET'S WEIGHT꞉
0.8 ounce, 22 grams.
SERIAL NUMBER꞉
From the 700-H series.  You will receive one coupon booklet, selected at random from a group of coupon booklets in the 700-H series.
EMBOSSING꞉
None.
SERRATIONS꞉
Coupons are serrated for easy removal.
TAXATION/REVENUE/OTHER STAMPS꞉
None.
CORNERS & PAGES꞉
Excellent condition.
HOLES, TEARS, DAMAGE꞉
None.  Booklet is in superb condition, looks like new.
ADDITIONAL NOTES꞉
All pages and coupons are present and intact.
GENERAL DISCLAIMER꞉
Due to the booklet's age, there MAY display some minor discoloration or "browning" along the edges.  Other than that, the booklet is "like new."
ABOUT THE ITEM꞉
Ice coupon booklets were intended to be purchased in advance from the ice company (at their "current market price").  When ice was delivered, the homeowner (or business owner, such as grocers) would tear out the appropriate number of coupons to "pay" for the poundage of ice that was delivered.  This served several purposes꞉  The ice company received their money "up front" -and- the coupons kept the drivers from having to handle money or make change.  In the United States, ice booklet coupons were typically in printed in denominations of 10, 25, 50 and 100 pounds.  In this particular booklet, each coupon was good for 25-pounds of ice.
ABOUT THE MASSILLON ICE COMPANY꞉
An article in the May, 1896 issue of Ice and Refrigeration reported “The Massillon Ice Co., report the following prices: 20 to 50 lbs. at one delivery, 40¢ per cwt. (i.e., in the United States “cwt” is 100-pounds); 50 to 100 lbs., 30¢; 100 to 1,000 lbs., 25¢; 1,000 to 2,000 lbs., 20¢; 2,000 to 4,000 lbs., .75 per ton. The outlook for the artificial ice business this year is good, as there has been very little natural ice harvested...”
An article on Page 8 of the December 16, 1902 of the Evening Independent reported The Artificial Ice Company had purchased the equipment and horses of The Massillon Ice Company.
An article in the May, 1921 issue of Ice and Refrigeration reported The Massillon Ice Company's capital stock at ,000 and the incorporators as: R. J. Hurt, L. H. Hossler, L. Brady and H. J. Schory.
An article on Page 1 of the June 17, 1925 edition of the Evening Independent reported that an eight-year old girl and her friends had been playing on the back of a Massillon Ice Company ice delivery wagon and jumped off the back of the wagon directly into the path of an oncoming automobile.  She was transported to the hospital by the automobile's driver where she lay at the point of death.
The 1925-1926 Massillon Ohio Bell Telephone Company Directory listed The Massillon Ice Company as being located at the intersection of Canal and Loura Streets.  The directory listed one competitor, the City Ice & Coal Company.
An article on Page 1 of the January 12, 1927 (Great Depression Era) of the Evening Independent reported The Massillon Ice Company had purchased the plant of the City Ice and Coal Company.
An article on Page 7 of the October 27, 1928 (Great Depression Era) of the Evening Independent reported The Massillon Ice Company, operating on 1st Street S.E., for a number of years had taken over the Thoma Brother's Coal and Ice Company (located at 3rd Street and Penn Avenue S.E.).  It was announced the price of ice on October 29th would drop from 62½¢ cents per 100 pounds to 40¢.
An advertisement on Page 1 of the April 23, 1952 edition of the Evening Independent advertised The Massillon Ice Company was selling picnic ice chests for at their 1st Street S.W., location.
The last mention we could find of a "Massillon Ice Company" was a small advertisement on Page 15 of the April 6, 1959 edition of the Evening Independent; however, the address and phone number listed were 719 9th Street N.E., Canton, Ohio with a phone number of GL 6-7351.
ABOUT THE COUPON BOOKS' PRINTER꞉
The Southern Coupon Company was one of a handful of coupon / script booklet printing companies in the early 1900's.  Based in Birmingham, Alabama (with a mailing address of Post Office Box 346), their competitors included the Allison Coupon Company (Indianapolis), Rand McNally and Company (Chicago), and Weldon, Williams and Lick (Fort Smith, Arkansas).  The SCC produced trade coupons (for stores), script coupons (for mining, manufacturing, logging and lumber camps) and ice coupons (for ice houses and ice block companies).
Our research leads us to believe the SCC came into existence around 1908 and by 1911, had already grown considerably.  By 1910, the SCC's name appeared in the city directory.
Any where there is anything of value being exchanged, there exists the likelihood of fraud.  Script and coupon booklets were no exception.  On February 12, 1924, Abe Rich (Assignor to the Southern Coupon Company) was issued United States Patent Number 1,483,313 for a new, higher security coupon booklet that prevented the removal of coupons from the book without detection.  Coupon "shorting" was a problem (where an employee of the company issuing the booklet, would remove a page of coupons prior to the customer or employee receiving the booklet) and this particular patent attempted to address this type of deception / theft.
Our research determined the Southern Coupon Company ceased doing business on September 25, 1992.  It's successor was the American Coupon Company - which also ceased operations around March 1, 1993. (Source: United States District Court, N.D. Alabama, Southern Division. April 21, 1993. Case Number CV:92-PT-2262-S).
SHIPPING COST꞉
Your shipping cost is calculated when checking out. For Buyers residing in the United States or its territories, to keep your shipping cost as low as possible, the shipping cost is tiered: The shipping cost for the first coupon booklet is .25... The shipping cost for each additional ice coupon booklet is only .00, For Buyers residing outside of the United States or its territories your shipping cost is based on “DIM” (i.e. weight, package size and destination). This item ships by United States First Class, United States Priority Mail or eBay International delivery. Orders typically ship within one business day of your payment being received.