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Lockwood's Paper Collar Manufactory.
| Firmenname | Lockwood's Paper Collar Manufactory. |
| Ortssitz | Philadelphia (Penns.) |
| Straße | South Third Street 255+259 |
| Art des Unternehmens | Papierkragenfabrik |
| Anmerkungen | - |
| Quellenangaben | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 61] |
| Zeit |
Ereignis |
| 1853 |
Walter Hunt, ein sehr begabter Erfinder in New York, der bei einem Rechtsstreit um die Nähmaschine, von der er behauptete, der originale Erfinder zu sein, unterlegen war, kündigt dem Vorarbeiter seiner Maschinenwerkstatt an, daß er einen Stich machen werden, der den Nähmaschinenstich ablösen werde. |
| 25.07.1854 |
Erteilung eines Patents auf Papier-Hemdenkragen. |
| 1858 |
William E. Lockwood, ein junger Kurzwarenhändler aus Philadelphia, erwibt den vorher im Besitz von Valentine befindlichen Anteil, und verlegt die Maschinen nach Philadelphia und beginnt die Fabrikation in den Keystone Mills bei Fairmount. |
| 1862 |
Lockwood kauft den vollständigen Anteil am originalen Patent auf Papierkragen. |
| 1863 |
E. D. Lockwood tritt als Teilhaber bei seinem Bruder ein. Sie bilden die Firma "W. E. & E. D. Lockwood" |
| ZEIT | 1868 |
| THEMA | Firmenbeschreibung |
| TEXT | The discovery that paper could be used as a substitute for linen, in the manufacture of Collars and Cuffs, for men's and women's wear, is of 'very modern and purely American origin. It belongs to a class of inventions that are not at all appreciated at first - fact is, regarded with contempt - and which subsequently become of such importance that they not only enlarge the fields of human labor, but affect established trades. It is conceded that the present enormous consumption of paper in the manufacture of collars, amounting as it does to over fifty tons weekly, has contributed to enhance the price of that commodity, and consequently affected the interests of book publishers and all who consume fine papers. Both the invention, and the means that were adopted to overcome popular prejudice against collars made of paper, have points of interest - the former being due to the inventive genius of a citizen of New York, while their successful introduction into popular favor must be accredited to the enterprise of a citizen of Philadelphia, of whose establishment we propose to give some account. The history of the invention is briefly as follows : In 1853, Mr. Walter Hunt, a very ingenious and prolific inventor in the city of New York, who had been defeated in litigation concerning a sewing machine, of which he claimed to have been the original inventor, announced to the foreman of his machine shop that he would make a stitch that would supersede the sewing machine stitch; and subsequently explained, that he proposed to make collars of two pieces of paper, cemented together, and then use a serrated wheel and roll it over the paper, which would make a series of indentations representing and resembling rows of stitches. Not long afterward, collars of this description were made, and worn by him and others; but as no paper of the requisite strength could be obtained, he proposed to ce- ment muslin, or other like material, to the paper, for the purpose of increasing its strength and elasticity. On July 25th, 1854, he received a patent for shirt collars of this kind, as a new article of manufacture, and his claims to priority of invention, after having undergone the ordeal of litigation, have been confirmed and established. The history of the introduction of these collars as a marketable commodity, is no less interesting. Previous to the issue of letters patent to Walter Hunt, he disposed of one half his interest in the same to John W. Ridgway, of Boston, for four thousand dollars; and subsequently sold the other undivided half-interest for three thousand dollars, to E. H. Yalentine & Co., who commenced the manufacture in the third story of a building, No. 408 Broadway, New York. The community, however, did not regard these new collars with favor, and the patent was frequently sold, and resold, with diminished value, none of the purchasers seeming pleased with their bargain. In 1858, Mr. William E. Lockwood, a young dry goods merchant of Philadelphia, purchased the interest formerly owned by Valentine, removed the machinery to Philadelphia, and commenced the manufacture in the Keystone Mills, near Fairmount. His experience during the first six months was by no means encouraging, and he was compelled to suspend operations, as the stock accumulated, for want of a market. When one considers that millions of these collars are now made and sold annually, it seems incredible that less than eight years ago it required persistent effort to overcome the prejudices of the community against them. This Mr. Lockwood succeeded in doing, by a judicious system of advertising, and setting forth their advantages, in which he was aided by the strong argument, that these patent collars can be worn much longer than au ordinary laundry-dressed collar without losing their gloss and brilliancy, can be sold at a price less than the cost of washing and starching linen collars, and what was convincing to those prejudiced in favor of cleanliness that they were in reality wearing the identical material used in a linen collar, only more clean and pure in its present form than ever before. His accumulated stock was then soon disposed of, his factory re-opened, and in less than two years his facilities for manufacturing were found inadequate to supply the demand, and he removed to his present location, 255 and 259 South Third street, where he has now probably the largest and most complete establishment of this description in the United States. The buildings have a front on Third and Levant street of forty-seven feet, a depth of one hundred and eighty seven feet, and are five stories in height. In different apartments there are about ninety machines used in the various processes, to which power is communicated by means of over six hundred feet of shafting, from a forty horse-power engine located in the basement. The exhaust-steam is utilized not only in warming the building, but in boiling water and heating glue or paste; and consequently fire is not required in any of the workshops. Many of the machines are novel, and some of them costly. The first process in making cloth-lined collars, is to combine the paper and muslin, which is accomplished by means of a machine that has cost, with the various improvements necessary to overcome the unequal expansion and contraction of the two substances, nearly thirty thousand dollars. The finishing or polishing, is effected by being passed between two highly chilled rolls, moving with different velocity, and which can be so nicely adjusted that an ordinary sheet of paper can stop an engine of forty horse-power. The collars are cut into shape by means of a self-registering cutting apparatus, having a capacity for cutting out 240.000 collars per day, and requiring the attention of only two operatives. The stamping of the patent and sizes, and the imitation stitching, is effected at one operation, by steel dies, and then the collars pass to the machine which punches out the button holes; and after that to the folding machine - which is the invention, in part, of the senior partner of the firm. All kinds and styles of ladies' and gentlemen's collars and cuffs, including Marseilles and fancy-printed patterns, are made; and whenever a new design of linen collar is adopted, either in this country or abroad, it is reproduced in paper in this establishment. In connection with the Collar manufactory, there are apartments appropriated to the manufacture of Paper Boxes, of which about three thousand are made daily, or over a million in a year. The bottoms of these boxes are constructed largely of thin, circular wooden blocks, which the firm have found to be a satisfactory and economical substitute for pasteboard. All the printing of labels, cards, etc., is done on the premises; and so extensive is their business, that ten printing-presses, and ninety fonts of type, are employed in this department. There is also a forge, and a machine shop, where all repairs to the machinery are done. In the entire premises there are at times as many as two hundred and fifty girls and women employed, none of whom are taken without special recommendations or certificates of character. Dinner and dressing-rooms are provided for their accommodation. Elevators are used as a means of communication between the different stories of the building, and they are so arranged, by means of dogs that spring into ratchets in the sides, that any serious accident from the breakage of the wire rope is almost impossible. A large apartment on the second floor is appropriated to the manufacture of patent direction labels, commonly called "tags." The large amount of cuttings necessarily produced in the collar department, being as much as three thousand pounds weekly, is all, or nearly all, converted into tags, made under a special patent, and which, from their strength, ready absorption of ink, and neatness of appearance, have been adopted as the standard tag by the Transportation Companies of the city, and are used largely by merchants of all classes. The sales of these alono amount to $25.000 per year, while of the collars as many as three hundred thousand have been sold in a single week. In 1862, Mr. Lockwood purchased the entire interest in the original patent, which was subsequently re-issued in four divisions, including both collars made of white paper, imitating starched linen, and collars composed of paper and muslin, or an equivalent fabric. In 1863, Mr. E. D. Lockwood became associated with his brother, establishing the firm of W. E. & E. D. Lockwood, Recently, the firm have disposed of their interests in the original patents to the Union Paper Collar Company, organized with a capital of three millions of dollars, but they still continue the business on a larger scale, working under a license from the Union Company, and paying a royalty monthly on their entire production. It is estimated that the annual sales of paper collars in the United States now amount to between three and four millions of dollars. |
| QUELLE | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 61] |
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