Lewis I. cohen
Lewis Joseph Cohen was born to Joseph Cohen and Hannah Cohen on July 23rd, 1800 in Lancaster Pennsylvania.
Unfortunately, Hannah Cohen did not survive the birth.
He had two older sisters named Judith and Rachel Cohen. I could not find any record of when they were born or died. He also had a half brother named Solomon Cohen, who was a well-known pencil manufacturer in London.
His family moved to Charleston, South Carolina where Lewis would spend the majority of his childhood. They most likely moved before 1810, because a Joseph Cohen is listed in the US Census in 1810.
In 1814, he and the family moved to London, England to be an apprentice of his half brother Solomon Cohen. Joseph Cohen stayed in London.
He returned to the US in 1819 on the Mary and Susan Bark in New York Harbor, and happened to spot a Florida schooner boat full of logs that didn’t have any knots at all. He bought the entire shipment for 30 pounds, significantly less than what Solomon would pay. He then convinced the captain to send it back to England as ballast, meaning at no extra cost. He also kept some for himself, and then became the first American to manufacture lead pencils. He would later become the first stationer in America to sell steel pens.
On August 1st, 1822 Joseph Cohen died in London.
In 1827, Cohen opened a stationery shop on 30 Pine Street in New York. There he would sell refined lead pencils, colored chalks and crayons. Solomon Cohen would eventually export stationery goods to Lewis’ store.
Some time before 1832, Cohen married Sophie Andrade. Sophie was born in England in 1810, and later immigrated to America.
On June 5th, 1832 Lewis and Sophie had a child named Joseph Cohen after Lewis’ late father. Unfortunately, Joseph died on January 25th, 1835.
Cohen began his playing card company in 1832 at 71 William Street. He would stay on William Street for the rest of his career at varying locations.
In 1833, his store was at 122 William Street, as seen by this advertisement:
On January 1st, 1834 Lewis and Sophie had their second child Benjamin Cohen. Unfortunately, Benjamin died on July 1st, 1835.
On December 14th, 1835 Lewis and Sophie had a son who was named Solomon Lewis Cohen after Lewis’ half brother in London.
In 1835, Cohen registered a patent for a playing card printing press that could print four colors in one pass.
In 1838, he moved his factory to 118 William Street. His store was still located at 122 William Street.
On September 1st, 1840, Lewis and Sophie had another son named Frederick Samuel Cohen.
In 1844, Cohen purchased a large building at 184-190 William Street to house the manufacturing of playing cards. This address would later become the first headquarters of the New York Consolidated Card Company. He also relocated his store to 134-138 William Street.
In 1844, Lewis opened a stationery store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 27 South Fourth Street. This store was operated by his nephew Samuel Hart.
On September 3rd, 1845 Cohen would dissolve all ties with the Philadelphia location, and leave it with Samuel Hart.
On September 18th, 1845 Samuel Hart and Isaac Levy would form Samuel Hart & Company.
By this time, the playing card manufacturing heavily outvalued the stationery side of the company. The stationery store at 134 William Street was sold on August 5th, 1848 to H. Seioliman & Company, Importers of English & French Staple & Fancy Stationary.
Here is the billhead showing the sale of 134 William Street.
In 1854, Solomon Cohen (Lewis’ half brother in London) passed away, and was buried in the Lauriston Road Jewish Cemetery in Hackney.
In 1854, Cohen retired and left the business to his son Solomon Lewis Cohen and his business partner John M. Lawrence. Solomon was 19 and John was 28 at the time.
The business would keep the name Lewis I. Cohen, and continue to produce the same decks until 1860. In 1860 they changed the name to Lawrence, Cohen & Company.
In 1862, Lewis Cohen would move to London and live out the rest of his life with Sophie in Maida Hill.
In 1864, they changed the name to Lawrence & Cohen. It was around this time that they collaborated with famed British playing card Artist, Owen Jones.
Lewis Joseph Cohen died in his home at 44 Clifton Gardens on April 14th, 1868. He was buried at the Lauriston Road Jewish Cemetery in Hackney.
On February 20th, 1870 Sophie Andrade died at 74. She was laid to rest next to her husband.
On December 5th, 1871 Lawrence & Cohen became a stock company along with three other partners; Samuel Hart and Isaac Levy from Samuel Hart & Co. and John J. Levy. Together they would form the New York Consolidated Card Company.
The Lawrence & Cohen aces were still in use until 1874.
On March 28th, 1907 Solomon Lewis Cohen died. He was buried in Beth Olom Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens County, New Yor
Trivia:
- In 1845, Cohen released a gold-embossed playing card deck. The area around the suits on number cards, and the clothes of the face cards were embossed in gold.
- Lewis Joseph Cohen used several different names in his advertising:
- Lewis Joseph Cohen-Given Name
- Lewis Isaac Cohen-Stationery Advertising
- Lewis Jacob Cohen-Stationery Advertising
- L.I. Cohen-Playing cards and Advertising.
- In 1830, Cohen would travel abroad for a few months in London. He assured the public that he had manufactured enough pencils to suffice, and appointed Attorney John Pendleton to collect the money.
- On January 11th, 1845 Cohen’s Philadelphia store was robbed. There were no signs of forced entry, so the police thought the robber had hidden in the store until closing on Friday. 80 dollars were stolen; nowadays that would equal approximately $3,000.
- Cohen’s playing cards were famous for their Ivory finish, which he achieved by using the Tagua Nut. The Tagua Nut contained a liquid that when hardened would resemble Ivory. The Tagua Nut is still used today as an Ivory substitute.
- On December 6th, 1846 Cohen’s 134 William Street location was robbed. The stolen items included workboxes, gold pencil cases, gold pens, mother of pearl cardholders and $827 (equal to almost $33,000 as of 2023).
- Cohen’s home address during his career was 83 Ninth Street.
All information on this page was acquired from Paper Empires Volume 1 by Jason McKinstry. If you wish to learn more about Lewis Cohen’s family, I did not include the information about his parents. You can purchase Paper Empires Volume 1 at this link:
McKinstry, Jason. Paper Empires: A Historical Journey of America’s Early Playing Card Makers. 2nd ed., vol. 1
