Paper Is Part of the Picture no. 2—A Tale of Two Mills 1892–1911 (Part III)

This is one in a series of blog posts accompanying Paper Is Part of the Picture: Strathmore Paper and the Evolution of American Graphic Design 1892–2017, an exhibition that I have curated at The Opalka Gallery of The Sage Colleges in Albany, New York. The exhibition runs from October 3 to December 15, 2017.

Alexis Cover Papers sample book from Mittineague Paper Co. (c.1899). Designer unknown. The title is set in Bradley Text. Photograph by Vincent Giordano.

Fairfield Parchment sample book from Woronoco Paper Co. (before 1904). Designer unknown. The mix of Caslon type with Art Nouveau ornament suggests the influence of Will Bradley. Photograph by Vincent Giordano.

The story of the Strathmore Paper Co. is actually a tale of two mills: the Mittineague Paper Co. and the Woronoco Paper Co. The latter was founded as the Fairfield Paper Company in 1887 by Roswell Fairfield. It began marketing papers with the Woronoco label as early as 1890 but did not change its mill name until 1897. [1] In 1905 Horace A. Moses purchased the Woronoco Paper Co. and operated it independently of the Mittineague Paper Co. until June 1911.

Advertisement (top of page) for the Fairfield Paper Company in The American Stationer (1887).

During the period when the two mills operated independently, they put out several lines of paper under the same name. An example is Saxon Bond (see below). Although this may seem odd today, apparently many of these paper names were grades or types of paper, a situation which I do not yet fully understand. [2]

Sample book for Saxon Bond from Mittineague Paper Co. (1904). Designer unknown. Photograph by Vincent Giordano.

Sample book for Saxon Bond from Woronoco Paper Co. (c.1906). Designer unknown. Photograph by Vincent Giordano.

The advertising and sample books of the Woronoco Paper Co. improved dramatically after the company was purchased by Moses, indicating that his influence was as present and as powerful as it was with the Mittineague Paper Co. The Indian head in a circle trademark for Woronoco was established in 1906, a year after Mittineague had instituted its famous thistle monogram with the phrase “Strathmore Quality.” It helped to brand the company’s sample books as did an emphasis on Indian names for new paper lines such as Pochassic and Tekoa. Although none of the surviving sample books in the Strathmore Archive have design or printing credits, they were probably done by either The University Press or F.A. Bassette Co. since those firms signed several contemporary Woronoco advertisements.

Pochassic Bond sample book from Woronoco Paper Co. (1910). Designer unknown. Photograph by Vincent Giordano.

The ultimate indication that Moses was developing Woronoco in the same manner as he was developing Mittineague occurred in May 1909 with the publication of two comprehensive, hard-cover sample books for the former. [3] Both Woronoco Writing Papers and Woronoco Book and Cover Papers were printed by the F.A. Bassette Co. The first one displayed 135 papers while the second had 80 papers. Both were heavily advertised and it is only in a few of the advertisements that we know what the covers of the books looked like (see below). As for the interiors, they apparently were similar to the three “Strathmore Quality” books of 1906. “The two books have been printed by some mighty good printers,” asserted one Woronoco advertisement, “so they not only contain ideas, but generate them, and ideas are worth money.” The books were sent out free to printers, but not to every printer who requested one: “We won’t send them to Cheap-john printers, who wouldn’t do good work if they could; but to others who have the brains and equipment for good work, here is your invitation to write for them.” [4]

Advertisement for The Woronoco Books in The Inland Printer (May 1910), p. 205. The same illustration was used for at least 18 advertisements from May 1909 through 1910.

Although the publication of The Woronoco Books was a landmark for the Woronoco mill, Moses must have come to the realization soon thereafter that it was not a financially wise idea to produce such elaborate books for two separate mills. Two years later, the mills merged to form the Strathmore Paper Co.

Notes
1. The history of the Woronoco Paper Co. is outlined in Walden’s Stationer and Printer, vol. XXII, no. 6 (October 10, 1904), p. 50 as part of “Power Plant at Woronoco.” See also The American Stationer, vol. XXVII, no. 8 (February 20, 1890), p. 459 for a list of Woronoco-branded papers from the Fairfield Paper Co.
2. For instance, in Lockwood’s Directory of the Paper and Stationery Trade (1921), p. 792 the following papers are listed: Saxon (from Union Card & Paper Co., Whitaker Paper Co., and Louisville Paper Co.), Saxon Bond (from Strathmore Paper Co.), Saxon Cover (from Virginia Paper Co.), Saxon Enamel Book (from McClellan Paper Co.), Saxon Manuscript (from Strathmore Paper Co.), Saxon Record (from National Blank Book Co.), and Saxon Superfine (from The E.A. Bouer Co., Graham Paper Co., and Strathmore Paper Co.).
3. It may be that credit for the improved quality of Woronoco sample books belongs to C.W. Dearden who became advertising manager for Mittineague in 1906. There is no mention in the Strathmore company histories of whether or not his role included the Woronoco Paper Co.
4. Advertisements in The Inland Printer, vol. XLIII, no. 2 (May 1909), p. 299 and vol. XLIV, no. 2 (November 1909), p. 181. Also see “The New Woronoco Books” in The Inland Printer, vol. XLIV, no. 1 (October 1909), p. 111. There are no copies of either book in the Strathmore Archive at Mohawk.