I receive questions about H.C. Marsh’s “Langdon” mitre boxes from time to time. I frankly have not researched whether and to what extent the Marsh and Langdon companies were related, if at all, or just competitors. What little I do know is that patent protection in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was of substantially less duration than it is today, so perhaps Marsh’s entry into the miter box business is just an example of cutthroat capitalism at work. In any case, the Langdon corporation was shortly thereafter bought out by Millers Falls Company, and it seems that the Marsh box stopped being sold not too long afterwards. Happenstance? We just don’t know.
I can’t vouch for whether the color scheme is original in the following photos.
Photos courtesy of L. Wayne Precht
A Langdon Mitre Box Reference 