American Writing Paper Company

The "Flatiron Building"; originally offices for Parsons Paper Company, it was the AWPC's headquarters from 1899-1952, when it was razed [1]
Industry	Pulp and paper
Founded	1899
Fate	Assets liquidated, 1963–1970 "Eagle A" brand and mfg. sold to the Brown Company subsidiary of Gulf and Western Industries, 1970, brand subsequently sold to Fox River Paper Company, 1976 [2] "Eagle A" brand acquired by Neenah Paper, 2007; discontinued [3] [4]
Successors	Holyoke Shares, Inc. (1962-1970)
Headquarters	Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States
Area served	Worldwide

The American Writing Paper Company was an American pulp and paper producing company trust, primarily manufacturing printing and writing paper. Incorporated in New Jersey in 1899 and representing the merging of 23 rag paper mills, the company held its general offices in Holyoke, Massachusetts which was also the location of 13 of these mills. ^{[5] [6]} At its peak output American Writing Paper produced 75% of all fine papers in the United States; contemporary accounts describe it as the largest producer of fine papers in the world. ^{[7] [8]}

The company's failings have been described by historical scholars, including Constance McLaughlin Green, as a matter of a lack of technical expertise in management. ^[9] Rather than forming from within the paper industry, “both the original promoters [of the trust] and the final agents were brokers and not paper manufacturers. The result was that these men were primarily interested in marketing the stocks and bonds, and not one was concerned with the manufacture of paper.” ^[10] Initially the company board sought papermaker and former congressman William Whiting II to serve as its chief executive. Whiting would decline their offer, and indeed the company was unable to absorb his own namesake company, which would become the largest independent manufacturer of writing paper in the United States contemporarily with the trust. ^[7]

The American Writing Paper Company would endure multiple labor strikes and two bankruptcies before being entirely liquidated under the name "Holyoke Shares", beginning with reorganization as an investment company under that name in 1963, dissolving by the end of 1970. ^{[11] [12]} Today it is best known for its "Eagle A" brand which has since been sold to multiple successors, ^[2] until it was discontinued in 2007 by the Neenah Paper Company. ^{[3] [4]}

Merged properties

The mills and properties which the company assumed included but were not limited to- ^{[5] [13]}

See also

• American Pad and Paper Company
• International Paper, competitor, and present largest producer of paper and pulp in the world; whose founding chief engineer was an apprentice of D. H. & A. B. Tower, the architectural firm of the majority of American Writing Paper's mills

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to American Writing Paper Company.

External videos
Manufacture of Writing Paper at an unknown mill of the American Writing Paper Company, Fox Movietone News (1919)
Making of Paper, American Writing Paper Company, produced by company c. 1930, en Español

• American Writing Paper Company Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Discovering New Facts About Paper, promotional literature by the American Writing Paper Company