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Established in 1913, the KREN BAT Co.
traces it's roots to a little shop in
the back of Joseph G. Kren's home in
Syracuse N.Y. Early on, Kren gained a
reputation among major league
ballplayers for turning out high grade
baseball bats. The small bat company
gave Louisville Slugger a run for its
money, making sometimes upwards of
100,000 bats in a year. In 1939 the
factory built in the Krens’ backyard at
114 Beecher St. was destroyed by fire,
putting Kren Bats in jeopardy of
closing down. The factory relocated to
the Easy Washer building at 717 Clinton
Street and then to their final location
at 212 Bear Street, and continue
producing baseball bats.
With baseball celebrating it's centennial, this book of matches was
produce the same year as the Kren
factory fire, in 1939. The front of the
matchbook features the Joseph G Kren
Baseball Bats Syracuse New York, trade
mark logo, with "Quality and Service"
at the top, "The sign of Perfect Bats"
below. The back features the official
1839-1939 Baseball Centennial logo,
with "Kren Bats" above it flanked by a
bat on each side. The area of the
matchbook between the front and back
called the saddle reads: "MATCHES TO
STRIKE, KREN BATS TO HIT"
The inside of the matchbook reads: "KREN BATS, LAST LONGER, DRIVE BETTER,
FEEL BETTER, Made from the finest
select northern white ash and hickory.
*Factory s located in the heart of best
ash growth. * All wood thoroughly air
dried and seasoned in open sheds.
*Treated to retain natures strength"
The matches were manufactured by The
Federal Match Corp. which was formed by
the merger of 9 companies in 1923. The
company then merged into Universal in
1941.
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