Carrom Company facts for kids

The Carrom Company (also known as Carrom Industries) was a famous company that made games and furniture. It was based in Ludington, Michigan. The company started in the late 1800s as the Ludington Novelty Company. Its most popular product was the fun game of carroms.

At first, carrom game boards were made by hand, one at a time. The game quickly became very popular across the United States. Soon, this parlor game was enjoyed by people all over the world. Over time, the company added more products, like furniture, to its lineup. In 1951, the original company was sold to a bigger business. The Ludington branch kept making carrom games, but it became a smaller part of the new, larger company.

How the Carrom Company Started (1889–1900)

Henry L. Haskell, the founder

Henry L. Haskell started the Ludington Novelty Company in 1889. He made things like baskets and games. Haskell was a Sunday school teacher. He worried about young boys spending too much time in pool halls. He thought they might pick up bad habits there.

In 1892, Haskell invented a new game called carroms. It was a game the whole family could play together. He later got a patent for his carrom board design. An advertisement from 1895 said, "you can keep the boys home nights by giving them a good carrom game."

The first carrom game boards were made by hand in 1892. Each board was made and sold before another was started. In 1893, Haskell convinced his friend John A. Mitchell to invest $1,000 in his idea. Mitchell's brother, Chauncey, also invested. This is how the Ludington Novelty Company officially began.

In its first year, the company made about 2,500 game boards. They produced around ten boards a day. The boards were made by hand, with some help from simple machines. By 1901, Haskell's carroms game was sold in ten different states.

Haskell received a patent for his carrom game board on October 26, 1897. His game became very popular in the U.S. and then spread worldwide. An advertisement from 1898 used the slogan: "A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men." It said that carroms was the best parlor game.

Company History

Justus Stearns

In 1900, Justus Smith Stearns, a local businessman, bought part of the company. He took over managing it. The company grew a lot under his leadership. They added more products, like carrom folding card tables and other furniture. Thousands of carrom games and products were sold across the U.S.

By 1901, John Mitchell was the president of Ludington Novelty Company. His brother Chauncey E. Mitchell was the treasurer. Haskell was the company's secretary. Production had grown to 600 carrom games every day. The company employed many people: 95 men, 85 women, 14 girls, and 8 boys. Local housewives in Ludington made the string pockets for the game boards. This helped them earn extra money.

In 1902, Ludington Novelty Company bought another game maker, Archarena Company, from Peoria, Illinois. The two companies merged. Archarena was started by Charles C. Harper and Edgar L. Williams. Williams had patents for four game boards related to Archarena. The new company was called the Carrom-Archarena Company. It became one of the biggest employers in Ludington, Michigan in the early 1900s. In 1912, the Carrom-Archarena Company changed its name to Carrom Company. By this time, the game was sold in Europe and Asia. In 1916, Haskell got a building at 801 N. Rowe Street in Ludington. Carrom game boards were made there.

Merdel in Ludington, Michigan

Henry L. Haskell passed away on April 3, 1940. In 1942, Stearn's grandson sold the Carrom Company to William Ross of Milwaukee. Ross then sold the company to Lee Smith in 1950. In 1951, Shampaine Industries bought the Carrom Company. Shampaine was based in St. Louis and made furniture for hospitals. The Carrom division in Ludington became a small part of Shampaine's overall business. By 1952, it was estimated that over $4 million worth of carrom game boards had been sold since the company started. A journal called Wood Working Digest estimated that 5 million boards had been sold by 1958.

Lee Smith retired from the company in 1960. In April 1961, three important employees—William J. Mueckler, Robert Erickson, and Albert Del Zoppo—left the company. They started their own company to sell games. They named their company Merdel Game Manufacturing Company, using the first letters of their last names. Merdel made their own version of the famous game. They sold it under the name "carom" (with one "r"). Shampaine sued Merdel in 1961 for using a similar name. The original game was called "carroms" with two "rr"s. This lawsuit was eventually dropped in 1967.

In mid-1967, Affiliated Hospital Products Inc. bought Shampaine. This included Carrom Games, which owned the registered trademark for "carrom" with the double "rr." The Carrom Games division became one of Affiliated's seven divisions. Affiliated mainly made furniture for hospitals. For a short time in 1968, the Carrom Games division moved its toy and game production to Red Lion, Pennsylvania. They continued to make the carroms game and competed with Merdel's "carom" game.

In 1969, Affiliated, the owner of the original carroms game, sued Montgomery Ward. The lawsuit claimed that Montgomery Ward's Christmas catalog and newspaper ads were misleading. They were selling a similar product made by Merdel called "carom" (with one "r"). Affiliated said that Montgomery Ward salespeople were telling customers they were buying the real original carroms game. But they were actually selling the copy made by Merdel, which was cheaper than the original.

In 1972, the carroms games branch of Affiliated moved to Sardis, Michigan. It then closed down later that year. This branch was sold to Merdel of Ludington. Merdel then started selling the game with double "rr's" in the name. This was because they now owned all the rights to the trade name. By the 1980s, between 80,000 and 100,000 carrom game boards were sold each year. They were sold in toy and department stores.

In 1981, The Lightning Group of Duncannon, Pennsylvania bought Merdel. In 1992, Merdel bought another game maker, William F. Drueke & Sons Company, from Grand Rapids, Michigan. This cost just under half a million dollars. Merdel liked Drueke because they made parts and boards for family games. These included backgammon, checkers, cribbage, and chess. At one point, Drueke was the only company in the U.S. that made chess sets. Drueke's employees and equipment were moved to Ludington and became part of Merdel's games division.

In 1994, Merdel changed the Carrom Games division back to its original name, Carrom Company. In 1996, Carrom bought what was left of the Recreational Products Company, which had gone out of business. Carrom moved the production of air hockey games, pool tables, and other items to Ludington. This part of the business became the Carrom Sports branch division of Carrom Company.

Associated Patents

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  Game board, 1897

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  Back stop board, 1900

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  Corner-pocket, 1900

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  Cue shooter, 1901

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  Game-piece rings, 1902