Jesse Shwayder and the golden rule
Golden Rule Marble
Jesse Shwayder began as Shwayder trunk manufacturing in 1910 and incorporated in 1912. Samson was the first trade name. Then in 1931 he changed the name to Shwayder Brothers Inc..
In 1923 the company was growing fast so he moved locations to a huge factory in Denver. Jesse truly believed in the Golden Rule for business and in life. He needed something to remind people of this, so he created the Golden Rule Marble. It was small enough to fit in a pocket, but large enough to make an impact. At first all his salesmen had to have one in their pocket, so if they had a questionable business decision, they were to pull it out, read it, and use its powerful meaning to make the right decision. He later gave them to all his employees. Harold Stembridge spoke of Jesse walking the factory. If Jesse asked to see your marble and you had it, you were given a one hour paid break on him. Harold was his neighbor and worked there 34 years.
The Samsonite history website gives some information but not much, probably because it didn’t become Samsonite until 1965. The earliest confirmed photo of the marbles is 1953 of Jesse Shwayder handing a marble to Firestone, however I have a paper signed by Porter Loring Sr. who started a funeral home chain in San Antonio. He started the company in 1918 and passed away 1955. He would give out the first generation of the golden rule Marble. These marbles were available starting in the 20’s for companies to purchase from Jesse in the Denver plant. The paperwork that came with a purchased marble was slightly different but still had the Golden Rule written on it. Jesse wrote a book “Jesse Shwayder and the Golden Rule “ about his first 50 years. There is one section of the book labeled 1910-1930 that talks about the marble. He specifically added picture of him with the marbles during this time frame because he clearly wants us to know the marbles were started in the Denver Plant after 1923 when it opened but before 1932. I have been searching and getting examples of marbles to verify the history of the Golden Rule Marbles. I’ve scoured books and websites. Tracked down relatives. I spoke with Jesse’s granddaughter and great grandson Billy Kaufman who runs Short Mountain Distillery in Tennessee. Billy has some of his Grandfathers Marbles on display at the restaurant. I have a good selection with examples from all eras. The company name was changed again in 1965 to Samsonite and then after Jesse had passed on June 25,1970 the family sold the company in 1973. There is a current company that has brought the marbles back and can be found online.