history of the dennison manufacturing company, part 4

      In the early nineties, when crepe paper was first introduced, four young ladies in Buffalo, who are known in Dennison annals as the "Heath Sisters," realized its possibilities and began to make all manner of beautiful things with it. The result was that the sisters were invited to visit our various stores and hold demonstrations in the new art. They arrived in Boston and fitted up a section of the Franklin Street store with their display, whereupon the public was invited to come and inspect. People came on foot and in carriages and immediately the new material became popular. New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and St. Louis were also taken by storm.

      The success of the demonstrations led us to establish permanent Art Departments in our stores, with the sole purpose of educating the public and our Dennison dealers in the use of our products. These Art Departments are always turning out something new with crepe paper, picture binding, sealing wax or some other Dennison item. Visitors often say, "Well, what in the world will you folks make next?" and it is this so often heard remark which has given us our advertising slogan, "What Next?"

Above The Chicago Store when It Was at 155 Dearborn Street

Below Dennison's Present Chicago Headquarters at 62 East Randolph Street

      In 1868 Henry B. Dennison was sent to Chicago to open a store for the convenience of our Western customers. The amount of business procured from the start marked the venture a success. In 1871 the Chicago fire burned out the Dennison establishment, but new quarters were quickly secured and the work of opening up the Western territory proceeded rapidly. Like the other stores, the Chicago store became the center of a sales district, and from it Dennison salesmen covered the Middle West.

      In 1870 there was in Dennison's Boston factory a boy who could cut more tags on the old hand power machines than any other workman. His name was J. F. Talbot, and because of his energy and industry he was selected to accompany Charles E. Benson when the latter took charge of the Chicago store. Mr. Talbot grew with the business and eventually became manager of the St. Louis branch, returning to Chicago to manage the store in that city on Mr. Benson's death in 1886. He was elected fourth president of the company in 1906 and resigned in 1909.

      The fifth president of the company was Charles S. Dennison, the younger son of the founder. He entered the machine shop in Roxbury in 1878 and was transferred to the New York store in 1880. When the London branch was opened in 1884 he was given charge. Recalled from England in 1887 he was made purchasing agent. In 1892 he was elected a director and became successively, vice-president and treasurer. He was elected president in 1909, and held that office for three years until his death, Aug. 22, 1912.

The Original Christmas Tags and Seals and a Few of the Christmas Designs form 1919.

      "If crepe paper is a child of the jewelry division of our business, we might have called our holiday line a grandchild. After the introduction of crepe paper our business around the Christmas holidays began to increase because so many people wanted the paper for wrapping packages. Folks also liked to use our well-made white boxes for gifts, and many a Christmas gift of jewelry found its setting in a Dennison case of leather or velvet. Then in the early years of this century some one said, "Why not make some Christmas tags and seals for packages?" and we did. The first year we had two crude shipping tags printed with holly and a picture of Santa Claus. Our dealers said they were poor and wouldn't sell. The next year we improved the designs and added a Christmas seal or "sticker." That year the demand was so great we could not supply it. Each successive year the line has grown until now it numbers over a hundred items. Since the introduction of the Christmas line similar lines have been introduced for Halloween, the patriotic holidays, St. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day and Easter."

The Framingham Plant when We Moved in 1897

      Just as in 1878 the Dennison business had increased to such an extent that it was forced to buy the Roxbury factory, so in the nineties it began to be cramped in its Roxbury quarters. There was also a Dennison branch factory in Brooklyn, making sealing wax and crepe paper, and a box factory in Brunswick, Me. It was the desire of the directors to centralize all these manufactures, so larger quarters were necessary. The plant of the Para Rubber Company in Framingham (then South Framingham) was in the market, and it was purchased by Dennison. To Framingham, then, in 1897 and 1898, were brought the box makers and tag makers from Roxbury, and later the wax and crepe paper departments from Brooklyn. Located in its new home, the Dennison business again began to grow, and every few years since it was necessary to erect a new building to take care of this steady expansion. At the present time the buildings represent a floor space of 715,000 square feet, or over I6 1/2 acres.

In 1919, the Dennison buildings represented a floor space of 715,000 square feet, or over I6 1/2 acres.

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