The following series of articles were written in celebration of the NPTA Alliance's 90th Anniversary by former NPTA Executive Director, William H. Frolich. The series reviewed the achievements of paper merchants, the Association, and the industry. There were pieces about the famous and the unknown, the significant and the insignificant. The goal was to provide a peek into the rich history of business we call paper distribution. 

The Rich History We Call NPTA
William H. Frohlich, 1993

The Wright Brothers, O.A. Miller, and NPTA

Two days before the historic flight of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, 17 paper merchants from around the country gathered to launch a new organization: The National Paper Trade Association. The dinner at Delmonico’s in New York City was a celebration to mark the new venture, and the companies in attendance were names that many of us recognize today – some still in existence, others a distant memory. Companies such as the Cincinnati Cordage & Paper Co., Bradner Smith, George W. Millar, J.E. Linde Paper Co., Hubbs & Corning Co., Beecher, Peck & Lewis and W.F. McQuillen, Storrs & Bement Co., to name a few.

Orlando A. Miller of The Central Ohio Paper Co. was elected as the first president of the NPTA. He moved swiftly to hold the first annual meeting of the Association on February 9, 1904, at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York (predating Paper Week by quite a few years)!

William C. Ridgway was appointed assistant secretary (in effect, the position that John Buckley held at the time of this writing). From those 17 company members in 1903, membership grew to 200 companies in the next 10 years.

NPTA had consolidated the regional associations that were already in existence at the time and spawned new ones. The paper distribution industry is certainly older than its Association.

In tracing the roots of the paper distribution industry, it can be assumed that for nearly as long as there have been paper mills, there have been merchants. (Second in a series.)

It isn’t clear where it all began, but we can make the assumption that for nearly as long as there have been paper mills, there have been merchants. As a matter of historical record, Gutenberg was forced out of business because he was in debt – to his paper supplier. Since all paper was handmade in the 1400s, it was probably bought direct.

In this country, we recently celebrated 300 years of paper manufacturing. The Rittenhouse mill is still in existence, and you can visit it today in Philadelphia. The big question that no one has been able to answer is on whose paper is the Declaration of Independence written. Could it have been made by Rittenhouse or another domestic paper maker, like Milton? Many scholars believe it came from England. (Does that make sense?) Here at the NPTA we would like to know if there was a merchant in the channel.

In 1801, the Crane Paper Co. set up its first mill in Dalton, MA. Stephen Crane was a paper maker in the 1700s, working at the Milton Paper Mill (making paper by hand). He sold paper to Paul Revere in 1775. Most do not know that Paul Revere, in addition to being a silversmith, is known as the “father of America’s security engraving industry.” Revere manufactured money that was the first issued in the colonies. Later, one of Crane’s sons established the family business on the Housatonic River. (1)

But where are the merchants? As the demand for paper grew through its many applications, mills could not reach all of the customers and potential customers themselves. The distributor merchant is the one who developed the marketplace for the mills’ products. This can be seen in the development of the merchant business in the 1800s.

The interesting thing to note is that there are a number of paper merchants who trace their roots to the early days of the founding of our country. Many company names have been lost to antiquity, but there are a few that are still in existence operating under their original names. At this writing, the oldest merchant in the country still operating is Alling & Cory, headquartered in Rochester NY.* The company opened its doors in 1819. In 1994 it celebrated its 175th anniversary – a milestone.

Bulkley Dunton, a New York City merchant, traces its roots back to 1833. In 1848, according to the New York Journal of Commerce, there was a paper merchant who claimed “it was not uncommon for him to have in his warehouse, and sell at nine o’clock in the morning, paper which was in rags a hundred and fifty miles from New York at nine o’clock of the previous morning.”(2) That just about says it all for the progress of commerce then and now.

After the Civil War, the merchant came into his own. He could bring paper products from remote mills to the customers more quickly than could be imagined. The industrial revolution was now benefiting the common man in ways not thought before.

After the Civil War, the paper products business really began to develop. As the United States entered its second century in 1876, there were forces at work that led to paper distribution being found in every part of the country. (Third in a series.)

What makes the period after the Civil War so important in the paper distribution Business? The answer involves the growth in availability of paper products at that time – products that people wanted to use to make their lives easier. For example, the simple paper bag, which was first made by hand in 1850, was being machine made by 1876.

During the Civil War, cotton fiber for paper and twine became scarce. The resulting twisted twine and string made from paper became standard items. And this is just the beginning of the thousands of paper products that we know today.

The Revolution Begins

As America grew as a nation, many products came into being that had enormous appeal. In 1862, James Harper began making tracing paper in Connecticut. Wood pulp, never thought of before as a fiber source, started to revolutionize the business. In 1863, the Boston Weekly Journal was printed on paper made from this new source, while many newspapers in the South went out of business during the war due to lack of pulp.

Even as early as 1856, the consumption of paper in the United States was larger than that of England and France combined. After the Civil War, with the opening of the forests as a source of fiber, the growth was exponential.

The paper business began to attract everyone. Even the U.S. Treasury Department set up a paper machine in the basement to manufacture its own paper for money. After running the operation for six years, it realized that this enterprise was probably better left to the professionals.

The Demand for New Products

Manufacturers of paper products started to pop up all around the country after the War. By 1868, according to Dard Hunter’s famous book “Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft,” paper was “being converted into articles for almost every conceivable purpose: boxes, cups, plates, wash-bowls, barrels, table tops, window blinds, roofing, collars, vests, cuffs, aprons, towels, napkins, shirt bosoms, buttons, hats, handkerchiefs, raincoats, corsets, slippers, petticoats, curtains, carpets, machine belts, etc.” There were even coffins made of paper. Paper, he said, had become so commonly used in making dozens of different articles that a song entitled “The Age of Paper” was popular in music halls.

Creativity was running wild after the late 19th century. The Allen Paper Car Wheel Co., in Hudson, NY, was producing thousands of wheels for railway cars. (The hubs only were made of paper.) In 1871, rolled toilet paper made its debut. (Unfortuntely, it took the next 20 years for it to really catch on.)

In the same year and right after the Great Chicago Fire, Western Paper Co. made paper linings for some 10,000 houses to accommodate those made homeless by the conflagration. The first Christmas cards were out on the market for the holiday season in 1874, and paper coated on both sides appeared the next year in varied applications. (In Germany, someone even made a watch entirely out of paper!)

Because of the increasing demand for paper products, mills sprang up by the hundreds throughout the country. Creative paper makers sought local sources of fiber to make their products. In 1886, Charles Thomas Davis wrote in his book “The Manufacture of Paper” that there were some 950 different materials from which paper could be made.

Now Enter the Paper Merchant

With so many paper products being made by a great variety of converters, somebody had to get them to market. Whereas prior to the Civil War, paper merchants offered basically two products to their customers – (“Would you like white paper to print on, or brown paper to wrap with?”) – merchants now had more to offer.

The “Era of the Paper Merchant” really dawns after the Civil War, when so many paper products became available. The merchant business grew quickly as creative entrepreneurs found new markets for their products. (Fourth in a series.)

The period in U.S. history between the Civil War and World War I, spanning some 50 years saw incredible growth in the commodities carried by paper merchants. As was pointed out earlier, the number of new products made from paper grew exponentially and included everything from paper buttons to paper railroad train wheels. There was virtually no existing product area untouched by paper.

The ease with which paper could be molded, stamped, laminated, formed, die-cut, and fashioned had not been seen before in the history of the world. Paper, as our citizens were coming to learn, was the product of the future. A revolution in consumerism was in their hands and was being fostered by this new, universal product.

The Age of Paper

The opening of the forests for paper manufacturing was probably the single most important event in the paper merchant story. After all, if paper could be made cheaply and in large quantities, new products could then be possible. Paper could move from being a handmade product (having been looked upon as a “nonwoven” cloth), to a machine-made, universal commodity allowing for many new and remarkable possibilities.

This point was proved in 1889, when for the first time, paper production in the United States exceeded one million tons.

Leading up to that record production, were a few important factors. Certainly the demand for new paper products took many forms. Paper was now being viewed as both the substance of new products (buttons made from paper, etc.), and as a means of communication. There was great growth in newspapers, postage stamps, envelopes, letters, and labels for bottles. (Prior to labeling, bottles were embossed with their names and identified by their shape. You can still find that ketchup bottle in the dark!)

The mid-1870s saw the first production of coated paper. This new paper was produced for a printer who wanted it for a catalog that contained many colored wood engravings. The demand for new, specialized products was being pushed upstream from the customers, through the merchants, to the mills.

Paper manufacturers realized that they were losing touch with the burgeoning markets and could not keep up with the ever-changing consumer landscape. Converters, who were setting up shop to generate new paper products, had the same problems. In the late 1800s, the paper merchant answered the call.

Paper manufacturers and converters came to the realization that they were manufacturers first, not marketers. They emphasized improving production. According to Dard Hunter, in his book “Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft,” in 1896, a mill in Maine had a wire 162 inches wide and 60 feet long. The next year, machines in New York, New Hampshire, and Oregon were running at a rate of 500 feet per minute, and by 1911, the fastest machines in the United States achieved speeds of 700 feet per minute, or 8 m.p.h. (The fastest tissue machines today can produce paper in excess of 70 m.p.h.!)

The merchant, on the other hand, knew something about papermaking, but knew more about the needs of the marketplace. They were out there developing customers who could use these new products and funneled market information back upstream to the mills and converters. Many merchants began their own limited converting operations to keep up with demand (envelopes, bags, and of course, special size-cut sheets).

As the customer began to see the paper merchant as his supply partner, the merchant was able to solidify his position with the mills. Merchant wholesalers built larger warehouses and carried more products. Growth came in waves as distributors scoured the marketplace looking for new opportunities. Merchants began to spring up everywhere. It was in this incredible growth period, just 38 years after the Civil War, in 1903, that the National Paper Trade Association was born.

The turn of the century brought new ideas and opportunities for paper merchants and their suppliers. The age of the cowboy was gradually giving way to a growing nation hungry for prosperity. Distributors of paper products saw new ways of working together to improve the business. (Fifth in a series.)

The new century was only a toddler when paper merchants from around the country gathered to form the National Paper Trade Association in 1903. As the Wright Brothers were taking off from Kitty Hawk, the National Paper Trade Association was taking flight at Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York City. What prompted the need for the paper merchants to form a new organization at the dawn of the 20th Century?

The answer lies in understanding the mood of the nation at the time. Teddy Roosevelt was in the White House. It was a time of optimism and confidence, excitement, and discovery. Paved roads were becoming a necessity as the automobile appeared as a means of transportation and product delivery. In 1903, the United States signed a treaty with a new republic to build the Panama Canal. The first corrugated containers were used as commerce was coming into vogue. Cities began to boom.

The mood of the times in the early 20th century was reflected in a nation with growing pains. In a way, this was created by the quest for a higher standard of living and need for more leisure time. Great waves of immigrants came to our shores in search of a better way of life.

In 1903, Boston won the first World Series. Movie theaters opened around the country as laborsaving devices were making work and life a bit easier, and increasing U.S. productivity. Paper manufacturing soared in the early 1900s as a result.

The year 1906 saw the first paper milk cartons used, and in 1909, the first kraft paper was manufactured in the United States. In the early part of the century, bread was wrapped in printed paper for the first time, and paper food trays came into being.

As all these changes were occurring, the world was preparing for war. The economic growth would now receive the stimulus of feeding the war machine, and paper would play a role. Many merchants got their start early in this century, and many of them are still around today.

Paper Merchants Still Operating Who Trace Their Roots to the Early Part of the 20th Century (From Walden’s ABC Guide)

• 1900 Henry C. Calterhoefer & Sons, Maryland
• 1900 J. Solomon, Inc., Connecticut
• 1902 Midland Paper Co., Illinois
• 1902 Monahan Paper Co., California
• 1902 Southern Paper Co., Louisiana
• 1902 C.T. Brigham Co., Massachusetts
• 1902 Jose Santiago, Inc., Puerto Rico
• 1903 Wolf Paper Co., Illinois
• 1904 B.W. Wilson Paper Co., Virginia
• 1904 Dacotah Paper Co., North Dakota
• 1904 Pilcher Hamilton Corp., Illinois
• 1904 S.W. Walter Packaging Corp., Pennsylvania
• 1905 Perkins & Squier Co., California
• 1905 Schilling Paper Co., Wisconsin
• 1905 The George T. Johnson Co., Massachusetts
• 1906 American Paper & Plastics Co., Ohio
• 1907 Ringel Brothers, New Jersey
• 1907 Robbins Paper Co., Massachusetts
• 1907 Pratt Paper Co., Massachusetts
• 1908 Wurzburg Brothers, Tennessee
• 1908 Jalco Paper Co., New York
• 1908 Enterprise Paper Co., Pennsylvania
• 1909 Carpenter Paper Co., Michigan
• 1909 Fall River Paper & Supply Corp., Massachusetts
• 1910 The M. Conley Co., Ohio
• 1910 Massachusetts Envelope Co., Massachusetts
• 1910 Hobart/McIntosh Paper Co., Illinois
• 1910 Borden & Riley Paper Co., New York
• 1910 Johnson Paper & Supply Co., Minnesota
• 1911 Cauthorne Paper Co., Virginia
• 1912 Capital City Paper Co., Illinois
• 1912 Thomas Bucceri & Sons, Maryland
• 1912 Burwinkle-Hendershot Co., Kentucky
• 1913 Eisenberg Brothers, New Jersey
• 1913 Janvey & Sons, Inc., New York
• 1913 F.W. Lutz Paper & Fixture Co., Ohio
• 1913 Von-Olker Snell Paper Co., Massachusetts
• 1914 McAliece Paper Co., New York
• 1914 Kemske Paper Co., Minnesota
• 1914 National Paper & Packaging Co., Ohio
• 1915 Johnston Paper Co., Ohio
• 1915 Chudy Paper Co., New York
• 1915 J. Stone & Sons, Inc., Massachusetts
• 1915 Finzer Business Systems, Inc., Oregon
• 1916 Holstein Paper Co., Maryland
• 1916 Field Paper Co., Nebraska
• 1916 Richard Bauer & Co., New York
• 1916 Van Paper Co., Minnesota
• 1916 Andrews Paper House of York, Pennsylvania
• 1916 Milton Paper Co., New York

The world changed forever when The Great War ended. The Western countries were able to shed the old and clad themselves with a newness that invaded every corner of life. And the paper business kept right in step. (Sixth in a series.)

The First World War brought the country’s attention to the possibility of losing all the economic gains accrued since the Civil War some 50 years before. And, so the allied victory in World War I was all the sweeter.

Efforts to maintain the country’s lifestyle and revel in the prosperity of a new materialism brought on the “Roaring Twenties.” The paper business was a microcosm in the world at large, enjoying the prosperity and new-found sense of purpose.

There was one important thing that The Great War did for the common citizen. It shrank the globe measurably for the first time. The man on the street saw newspaper accounts each day of events in faraway places and felt as though he was there. After the war, the world would never be the same, distant place. “Over there” was now over here.

Serving the Cause

In 1917 and 1918**, the National Paper Trade Association’s President, George Olmsted, Sr., of the J.W. Butler Paper Co., along with NPTA Secretary William C. Ridgway spent a good deal of time in Washington, DC, serving the interest of the country. According to NPTA’s 75th anniversary publication, they assisted Thomas E. Donnelly of R.R. Donnelly & Sons who headed the Government Control of Paper, Printing and Publishing Industries. His associate at the time was S.L. Wilson of Graham Paper Co. who later became president of the American Writing Paper Co.

As the paper merchant business began to mature in the 1920s, the definition of the distributor’s place in the channel clarified. Speaking in 1928, W.N. Gilbert of the Chicago Paper Co., who was also vice president of NPTA at the time, summed up the role of the paper merchant this way: “The chief function of a paper merchant, as I see it, is to get paper and paper products to market at the lowest possible cost, commensurate with service required and with a proper provision for a reasonable merchant profit.” No one would argue with him today.

A Growing Business

Believe it or not, Prohibition, which began in 1920, brought with it an incredible trade in paper. Remember, the only way to buy liquor legally was to have the proper “Permit to Purchase.” And these permits were printed on specially watermarked papers.

The trade in illegal papers was brisk. According to Dard Hunter in “Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft,” the prohibition watermarks fetched large sums. In one instance, $12,000 in cash was paid for watermarked paper. Consequently, all names of dandy-roll markers, paper manufacturers, and paper merchants were scrutinized carefully by the U.S. Treasury Department.

But that certainly was not where the business was going. Paper merchant companies continued to spring up in the years following the First World War. Driven by the convenience demanded by the new lifestyles of the post-war years, these companies sought to satisfy a growing economy.

Tracing Their Roots: Paper Merchants Still Operating, That Trace Their Roots to the First Few Years After The Great War (From Walden’s ABC Guide)

• 1917 Century Papers, Inc., Texas
• 1917 Premier Paper Co., Kentucky
• 1918 Pollock Paper Distributors, Texas
• 1918 Marquardt & Co., New York
• 1918 Cole Papers, North Dakota
• 1919 Rockford Wholesale Paper Co., Illinois
• 1919 S.S. Hoffman Co., New York
• 1919 Central Wisconsin Paper Co., Wisconsin
• 1919 Crown Products, New York
• 1919 Atlanta Broom Co., Inc., Georgia
• 1919 Fulton Paper Co., Georgia
• 1919 Montrose Paper Co., Illinois
• 1919 The Moulder Co., Oklahoma
• 1919 Murnane Paper Co., Illinois
• 1919 The Dowd Co., Massachusetts
• 1919 Cutting USA, New Jersey
• 1919 Eagle Paper Co., Pennsylvania
• 1919 Dubin Paper Co., Pennsylvania
• 1920 Industrial Paper Co., Inc., Maryland
• 1920 Taverner & Fricke, California
• 1920 Star Paper Co., Massachusetts
• 1920 Upper Peninsula Office Supply Co., Michigan
• 1920 Central States Diversified, Inc., Missouri
• 1920 Hatfield Paper Co., Inc., Massachusetts
• 1920 Atlas Paper Co., Massachusetts
• 1920 Atlantic Paper Co., Pennsylvania
• 1920 Clearfield Wholesale Paper Co., Pennsylvania
• 1920 Wolf Paper Co., Pennsylvania

Paper Merchants Grow out of The Great Depression: There was a time, not long ago, when one out of every four Americans was out of work. There was a depression in every industry, every corner of life. The paper distribution business not only survived – it thrived. (Seventh in a series.)

After the Roaring ‘20s came crashing down at the end of the decade, the country slumped into what became quickly known as The Great Depression. With unemployment running at fantastic rates (25% or more in certain areas), paper distributors had to cope with a reduction in demand.

The growth of the paper distribution business had been a blessing to many companies in the 1920s. But in the ‘30s, companies fought for their lives. Most survived and prospered after the War.

Towards the end of the Great Depression in 1940, production of paper in the United States stood at about 14 million tons. Fourteen percent of the paper machines were idle. But the industry still employed some 125,000 people in the United States and 35,000 in Canada. This employment level showed that the industry had weathered the storm fairly well.

As the war effort began to work the country out of its depression, essential industries, like paper, were in greater demand. According to Dard Hunter in his book “Papermaking: The History and Technique of an Ancient Craft” (published in 1943), the amount of paper used in the building of a battleship, for example, was 100 tons. Everything and everyone required paper, and the paper merchant got busy supplying the military, government agencies, and all the organizations supporting the war effort.

“We are all aware of the misfortunes, the tragedies, which attend some of the early shipments of war materials,” reported Corwine Roach of Capital City Paper, then President of the National Paper Trade Association. He was speaking in 1943 to the Association’s Wrapping Paper Division. “The recollection of desperate Marines opening waterlogged packages, or inspecting eagerly awaited machine parts only to find them corroded, is not a pretty one. The solution represents one of paper’s great contributions to victory.”

The late Stan Styles was a “dollar-a-year man” on the War Production Board and served on the Civilian Production Board during the War. He served on an advisory board of merchants that acted as a voice for the industry. “When problems arose,” he said, “this group had the opportunity to go to Washington and speak its piece.” (After the War in 1947, Stan joined NPTA.)

By 1943, the United States was producing 287.5 pounds of paper for every individual citizen in the country – an all-time record. And as the flood tide of war filled the country, all businesses began to boom. The government, responding to the need in 1944 consumed 1,723 tons of paper just producing U.S. currency, 1,045 tons in printing stamps, and 1,150 tons in making bonds.

In 1945, Dard Hunter reported that 14,000 different paper products were in existence. Amazing!

We now come to the final installment of the paper and plastics distribution industry history: covering the years since World War II. NPTA’s 90th anniversary year also concludes this month (December 1993) and the Association would like to thank all those who took the time to write and contribute material. (Eighth and last in a series.)

It was 1947 that Stan Styles joined NPTA. Many of you knew him. He came to NPTA after a 35-year career with the Martin Cantine Paper Company in New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley. He stayed with NPTA for a second career of 35 years. Stan passed away at the age of 95 a few years back and NPTA named its industry excellence award in his honor.

In the years after World War II, many influential, decent people came to the forefront of the industry. NPTA was lucky to have them participate in making the Association become a leading force in support of Distribution. Take a look at the list of NPTA’s elected leaders, shown in the box below, since the war began. See how many of them you know or remember.

Take another look at this list. How many of these companies from before 1970 are still in existence? The constant in this industry is change. From a family-held, small enterprise has come large, multi-location regional and national operations. But what has made each of those companies strong is their strong people. Leadership is a constant in this industry as well.

Exactly 90 years ago this month (December 1993) NPTA was formed by 17 paper merchants from various parts of the country who met at New York’s Delmonico’s Restaurant. The next day, the New York Times ran the following announcement:

At the second annual dinner of the Paper Association of New York, which was held
Last night at Delmonico’s, President William D. May announced that during the day
a National Association had been formed. The new organization is made up of
associations of the cities Boston, Baltimore, Central Ohio, and Chicago...

O.A. Miller of Columbus Ohio, was elected President of the new National Paper
Trade Association and John E. Linde of this City, Secretary.”

And so it all began...

* Research is not an exact science, unfortunately. If readers have some information to contribute to our efforts, their input is welcome. Please contact the author at NPTA.

** For those of you who knew Stan Styles, you may remember that he was already in the paper industry during The Great War, but not yet with NPTA. (He was a horse soldier, and from what I have heard, that’s another story.)

(1) The First 175 Years of Crane Papermaking by Wodsworth R. Pierce, 1977
(2) The Age of Paper: Bulkley Dunton, New York; Carter Rice, Boston; 150th Anniversary 1833 – 1983

Authors Note: In this series of articles, I tried to trace both the roots of the paper and plastics distribution industry as well as the history of NPTA. It was not possible to be very thorough due to space limitations, but every attempt was made to be accurate.

Thanks go to the many industry people who sent materials and added information about their companies to our archive. NPTA wishes to further develop its historical archive of material to document this exceptional industry. All original material (and copies) is welcomed and will be lovingly cared for.

Setting the Record Straight:

(At this writing) I have just heard from Unisource on the West Coast who wanted us to mention that the original Blake, Moffitt & Towne Co., which was purchased by Alco in 1985, dates back to 1852. It is hard to believe that this paper merchant was selling paper products to those who rushed for gold!

Bruce Kuzler at Rohner Distributors in Ohio called to say that his company has been in business since 1909. Rohner is part of ResourceNet International.

Tucker Jones of Hudson Valley Paper (who is also Chairman of NPTA, at this writing) called to say that we left out his company (OOPS!)His family-owned business in Albany, NY was founded in 1875.

Rourke Eno, part of Paper Corporation of America, was founded in 1847 in Hartford, CT as E. Tucker & Sons. In 1907, William Rourke joined the company and in 1910 purchased it. Frank Eno took controlling interest in 1911. The current name was adopted in 1915.

J. Stone & Sons was established in 1914 by Joseph Stone and has operated in Lynn, MA, since that date, reports Carol Z. Stone, president.

Eugene Movshin tells us that Mooney General Paper Company in Hillside, NJ, was founded in 1917 as the H.G. Mooney Company and merged with General Paper and Twin in 1968

The Richard Bauer Company started in business in 1916 in Columbus, OH, reports Joseph Hofheimer.