[ADVERTISING] [FOOD INDUSTRY] [PAPER] Parchment & Waxed Paper Collection

This Parchment/Waxed Paper collection demonstrates the connections between numerous trades at the beginning of the 20th century. The end of the Nineteenth Century brought dynamic transition - moving from horse-drawn wagons to locomotives, from frontier farms to cities, and from early mechanization into the age of technology. Caught up in this change was the transformation of America's burgeoning food industry. The eight separate groups of waxed/parchment paper ephemera illustrate how the advertising, art, food, and manufacturing businesses all intersected and helped create a flourishing community in each of the areas where they were located.

Vegetable Parchment Paper: The introduction to this country by the Paterson Parchment Paper Company in 1885 coincided with the birth of the modern era of specialization in the pulp and paper industry. Vegetable parchment was discovered, like many necessities of today, by accident. In 1853, while preparing a sheet of handmade cotton rag paper for use in demonstrating a lecture, an English chemist named W. E. Gaine accidentally dropped the sheet into a container of sulphuric acid. After retrieving the paper from the container, he discovered that it had taken on an entirely new form. Instead of being porous, absorbent, and opaque as were ordinary papers, it had become translucent, tough, and water resistant.

Unique properties of this product, with its high wet-strength, resistance to water, oil, and grease penetration, and the fact that it was odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, and fiber-free, vegetable parchment was especially suited for the wrapping and packaging of foods - especially butter, cheese, and other dairy products. Prior to this product, butter was shipped to market in wooden tubs which where lined with brine - soaked cheesecloth and covered with a layer of salt paste. With the introduction of parchment, manufacturers could line the tubs of butter and use the parchment as a gasket in milk cans. As the news spread, other food producers and handlers, such as butchers, canners, grocers, and packers, became interested in vegetable parchment and its application to their products.

Waxed paper was first used back in the Middle Ages - a practice of coating or impregnating purified beeswax onto parchment paper. In 1851, Gustave Le Gray introduced the use of waxed paper for photographic negatives. It wasn't until the mid 1920's that waxed paper was available in grocery stores. Both Cut-Rite and Hamersley brands claim to have been the first to introduce the serrated cutter bar.

Included in the Collection:

53 Sheets of Butter wrappers. 25 x 23 cm. c. 1930's - Patapar Vegetable Parchment, Paterson NJ.
In the 1920's Washington state farmers saw an opportunity in the dairying industry - farmers found that dairying was more profitable than fruit growing, and many orchards were dug up and seeded with alfalfa. The Coueur d'Alene Creamery and many other Washington state creameries needed a new way to package smaller specialty items, such as butter. They turned to the Paterson Parchment Paper Company.

20 Early Dawn Butter wrappers. Veradale, Washington. Patapar Vegetable Parchment, Paterson, NJ
14 Palouse Farms Creamery Butter wrappers. Palouse, Washington. Patapar Vegetable Parchment, Paterson, NJ
17 Golden Dawn Creamery Butter wrappers. Veradale, Washington. Patapar Vegetable Parchment, Paterson, NJ
2 Hub City Brand butter wrappers. Cenralia, Washington. Patapar Vegetable Parchment, Paterson, NJ

Mother Goose Bread, SANIWAX PAPER CO, Kalamazoo, MI. 50 x 33 cm. c. 1920. Color illustrated waxed paper sheet featuring many of the fairy tales. Folds discernible, a few closed tears, but very clean. This particular promotional copy was made and marketed to bakery businesses around the country. The SANIWAX PAPER CO of Kalamazoo, MI, appropriated the much loved Mother Goose fairy tales and marketed them - inviting companies to use this colorful illustrated wrapping which includes this: "Children buy probably seven-tenths of the bread sold and eat more than that". Kalamazoo was sometimes referred to as the "Paper City," because it was to the paper industry what Detroit was to the automobile industry - producing just about every type of paper and paper-related products; from tissue to cardboard. The Kalamazoo Paper Co. was one of the oldest paper companies in the US. The headquarters opened in 1906 and was originally home to the Kalamazoo Loose Leaf Binder co., the Saniwax Paper Co. - with the "Saniwax Building" sign still visible on the exterior brick structure.

KOESTER'S HONEY BREAD 100% PURE, Baltimore, Maryland. Wax Paper Mills of the Nashua Gummed & Coated Paper Co., Nashua, N.H. - 42 x 45 cm. c. 1925. Color illustrated wax paper sheet featuring KOESTER'S bread label and honey bees. Folds discernible with some oil stains, not affecting text. One closed tear. Eilert Herman Koester (1858-1948) and his wife Lisette Koester (1860-1947), both born in Germany, established the E.H. Koester Bakery Co. in Baltimore in 1886. It was, at one point, the largest family-owned bakery in the U.S. The Nashua Gummed and Coated Paper Company was founded by three men originally to manufacture playing cards for gold miners. The company instead made cardboard and glazed paper products. In the 1870's it was the largest non-textile manufacturer in the city.

BUTTER-NUT, GENUINE MILK BREAD, Made with MILK. Schultz Baking Co., Pottstown, Pa. MENASHA PRINTING & CARTON CO. Menasha Wis. 41 x 34 cm. c. 1920. Color illustrated waxed paper sheet featuring the BUTTER-NUT logos and the pirated Chicago based "Shulze" bread logo. Discernible folds and many small creases. Some closed tears at one end with small chips. John L. Shulz opened his bakery in 1902 and served as the baker, salesman and bookkeeper until he was able to hire help four years later. In 1912 he built a large two-story brick store and manufacturing plant which was enlarged and improved in 1920. It was a shrewd move, although most likely illegal, to capitalize on his name, Shulz, that was very close to the name, Shulze, which was attached to the largest bread baking company in the US, situated in Chicago. The Menasha Printing & Carton Co. started off as a wooden pail factory and grew throughout the turn of the century to accommodate the packaging revolution that swept across America. Manufacturers shifted to consumer-sized packaging made of paper, glass and other materials.

Hamersley's Triangle Box Waxed Paper. Distributed by C. W. HUGHES & CO., Inc., Mechanicville, NY. 24 x 15.5 cm. c. 1920. Illustrated promotional handbill made of waxed paper. "To you, Mrs. Housewife: Why you should buy Hamersley's waxed paper in the new patented Triangle Box - No dangerous metal cutting edges, Paper fully protected against dirt and dust, Paper always ready to use, Easy to pick up and tear, Varnish coating on box keeps off greasy finger marks, A beautiful box - an ornament for your kitchen. ONE TRIAL WILL CONVINCE YOU. The Hammerschlaag Company, later Hamersley was originally founded in 1877 - located in New York City. In 1894 the company moved to Garfield, New Jersey and built their factory along the banks of the Saddle River. Folds discernible, otherwise clean.

BENNINGTON WAX PAPER COMPANY. Bennington Wax Paper Company, Bennington, Vermont. 1922. 28 x 21.5 cm. Letter on company letterhead, Oct. 14, 1922. To Hempstead Brothers, Troy, NY - making a pitch to sell pre-made waxed paper Bread Wraps for Pullman, Raisin, Whole Wheat, and Graham breads. Wrappers came in 1000 sheet packages with the ability to insert the companies name on the sheet for no extra charge. Four samples are provided. Letter creased with tear at top, some soiling.
BEN-MONT WAXED PAPER. 1923. 20 x 31.5 cm. Color illustrated large format cardboard envelope. "The NEW AND CONVENIENT SLIP-SHEET PACKAGE. This envelope housed 60 sheets (not included), for use in the household, for school, lunches, picnics, and preserving. What is most interesting about this piece of ephemera is the company then suggested using this large envelope (after you had used all the sheets) as a folder for filing recipes, patterns, snap shots, or postcards: "A thousand uses in the modern home". Edges rubbed with some soiling, but otherwise in very good condition. The Bennington Wax Paper Company was founded in 1907 by J. H. Hurlburt. It later changed it's name to Ben-Mont and concentrated on foil wrap and the gift wrap business.

CANAPAR - Cookery Parchment - Preserves all Vitamines and Mineral Salts. Appleford Paper Products, Hamilton, Ontario. c. 1930. 17 x 31 cm. Color illustrated large format cardboard envelope containing four sizable sheets of parchment paper. The back side of the envelope describes all the ways this product should be used and emphasizes the importance of moistening the paper before use. Edges rubbed and chipped with some soiling, but intact and bright. Appleford Paper Products was founded by Leslie and Alfred Appleford. Originally they developed on of the first counter sales bookkeeping systems, following up with printed counter check books. Alfred branched off on his own to make wax paper products. Item #4378

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