history of the dennison manufacturing company, part 3

View of Dennishon Plant
 at Roxbury.

      The Evolution of the Tag to about 1854 all of the Dennison business was with the jeweler, but the manufacture of jewelers' tags in that year furnished the means for a broadening out of the Dennison enterprise. The use of tags was not confined to jewelers. Woolen mills used tags; so did the retail merchants. Naturally the tags needed for the new uses were made larger and were of stouter stock. When they were first introduced they were not particularly popular, but because they were of good quality and were neatly cut and strung, it was not long before the better merchants began to buy them. Out of the few shapes and sizes of "merchandise tags" grew an immense line of divers shapes and colors used to mark goods in the marts all over the world.
      In the old days before the Civil War shipping tags were called "direction labels." They came from England and were made of linen with folded ends. Only the more progressive shippers used them, however, most merchants made their own "direction labels " out of left-over cardboard. It was a job for the shop boys on rainy days to clip them out. Naturally the home-made tags, and the imported ones, too, for that matter, did not "hold" very well. The result very often was a lost package.

Shipping Tags of 1863 and Those of To-day

Above, One of the Original Tag Machines. It Is Still Running
Below, A New Tag Machine with All of the Latest Improvements

      Mr. Dennison saw the possibilities of a great business in shipping tags which would actually stay on the goods. His inventive mind was alert and in 1863 he patented the idea of reinforcing the hole in the tag with a paper washer on each side. The shipping tag of 1863 is practically the same shipping tag used in 1920. It stood the test of fifty-six years or more. Millions were made and used daily.

      As soon as manufacturers and merchants began to realize the value of the patented Dennison shipping tag, the orders poured in. Mr. Dennison set to work upon a tag machine, and with the assistance of Charles Sawyer, of the Perkins factory, and Charles Moore, of Moore & Wyman, machine builders, the first machine was made. The idea upon which the machine was constructed was so fundamentally sound that all tag machines prior to WWI were based upon the same principle.

      The sales of tags for the first year were about ten million and more than five times that number were sold weekly in 1919.

      At first the tag was used exclusively for shipping, but as the years went on more and more uses were discovered for them. There were just as many " inside " tags used in stores and factory systems as there were used to ship goods. Tags were made in all sizes and in many colors, and were couponed and numbered to suit any requirement.

      The growth of the merchandise tag and shipping tag business made it necessary to have more space for manufacturing. There was no room in the Boston factory on Milk Street for the shipping tag machines, so they were set up in the Perkins factory at Roxbury. As business grew, more and more of this factory was taken, until in 1878 the entire Roxbury plant was purchased and all of the jewelers' cards, merchandise tags and shipping tags were made there. The box business remained in Brunswick until 1894, when it, too, was moved to Roxbury. This was the beginning of the campaign for centralization. It was at the time of the Roxbury plant purchase that the business was incorporated under the name Dennison Manufacturing Co., with E. W. Dennison as president and Albert Metcalf as treasurer.

      Henry B. Dennison, who succeeded his father as president, was an organizer and a believer in system. His first work for thencompany was to open the Chicago branch, and after putting that in good running order he returned to Boston in 1869 to become superintendent of factories. He was elected president in 1886 and resigned on account of ill health in 1892. He died Mar. 17, 1912.

      When Mr. Hawkes opened the New York branch he hired an office boy named Dyer. This boy was taken sick and sent in his younger brother Henry to do his work. The older boy never recovered from his illness and the brother Henry remained with Dennison. He grew to be a man of resource and determination and a limitless capacity for work. He became successively clerk, bookkeeper, traveler, salesman, manager of the New York store, director, treasurer, vice-president and president. He retired in 1906. His death occurred Oct. 19, 1911.

Old and New Gummed Labels

      The next large addition to the Dennison line of manufactures was made in 1865, when several styles of gummed labels were offered to the stationers of the country. In the production of these labels, as in every other instance, the Dennison standard of quality was maintained. W. D. Stratton, a Dennison man and an artist of ability, originated the red bordered label which has become so popular, and for a time the labels were called Stratton's Gummed Labels. After a few years Mr. Dennison purchased Mr. Stratton's rights, and the labels were henceforth called Dennison Gummed Labels. Inasmuch as the main function of a gummed label is to stick, Mr. Dennison insisted that the gumming be the best, and it is due particularly to this quality that Dennison gummed labels and the various other articles now in the adhesives line have found favor with dealers and consumers alike.

      At first most of the labels which were made were of the familiar red bordered variety, but soon the special demands of manufacturers and merchants led to the making of labels printed in various ways for shipping, marking, etc. As the advertising value of gummed labels began to be appreciated the designs became more elaborate.

Above, The Dennison Store Occupied the First Floor at 630 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia Prior to 1898

Below, The Present Philadelphia Store at 1007 Chestnut Street

      In 1862 increasing business in Pennsylvania and nearby states caused Mr. Dennison to open a Philadelphia branch. The first salesroom was at 33 South Third Street in a remodeled dwelling, and later more commodious quarters were taken at 630 Chestnut Street.

Above, A Facsimile of the First Roll of " Crepe Tissue Paper "

Below, Some Folds of "Dennison Crepe," the Present-day Product

      Crepe paper seems to be entirely foreign to jewelry boxes and findings, yet its manufacture by Dennison is directly traceable to our business with retail jewelers. In 1871 we began to import from an English paper mill a tissue paper which would not tarnish jewelry and silverware. This same mill made colored tissue paper, and this we also imported, selling it to those who wished to make tissue paper novelties. In the late eighties some one discovered that when tissue paper was " crinkled " it could be used for lambrequins, lamp shades and the like, with much more artistic effect. This led to experiments in making crinkled or crepe paper by machine, and while the first crepe paper came from England about 1892, it was not long before the Dennison Manufacturing Co. was making its own crepe paper the first that was produced in this country.

      Each year new uses for crepe paper have been discovered. The cumbrous machines of a quarter of a century ago, with their annual production of a few thousand folds, have been discarded, and with our modern machinery it is possible to turn out millions of ten-foot folds yearly.

A View of Our Philadelphia Art Department 

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5