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Tops in Blotters
Remember blotting paper? It was once a favorite form
of business advertising. The message was imprinted on small blotters
distributed by the tens of thousands. Richmond was one of the leaders in
blotting paper production.
It all started in 1887 when Richmonder Edward B. Thaw met with a number
of local businessmen and discussed the possibility of creating a
printing plant in the city. The group raised $23,000 for the project.
They applied for, and were granted, a charter of incorporation by the
Circuit Court of the City of Richmond.
The first plant of the Albemarle Paper Company, known as the Hollywood
Mill, was built in 1877 just below Hollywood Cemetery between the James
River and the Kanawha Canal. Thaw became secretary and general manager.
James Lishman, who had learned papermaking from his father in England,
was brought in to be in charge of construction as well as superintendent
of operations. The mill was equipped with an 88-inch Fourdrinier paper
machine purchased in New England. They began making manila, blotting,
matrix, filter and other absorptive papers primarily from rags.
During its early years, a single day shift employed about 17 men in the
mill and an equal number of women in the rag room. By the close of the
first year of operation the company had manufactured 683,921 pounds of
blotting paper and 426,385 pounds of manila paper at a profit of $5,213.
Mr. Thaw’s salary was raised from $60 a month to $100. Oddly enough, in
spite of the apparent success of the company, he then resigned to pursue
other projects.
The business of the company he helped found continued to grow. More and
more of its production was blotting paper. By 1900 it was selling more
blotting paper than any other mill in the nation and at times was unable
to keep up with the demand.
In September 1915, the United States government contracted with
Albemarle to produce blotting paper for use in main post offices across
the country.
The leading brand of the company was called “World” and was regarded as
being the best and purest sheet of blotting paper on the market.
Albemarle also made less expensive grades.
But as time went by, the demand for blotting paper began to fade. In
1962, for $200 million, Albemarle acquired chemical company Ethyl
Corporation and took its name. The Albemarle Paper Manufacturing Company
was no more.
The memories of the plant and its success have been blotted out by time.
Ray Schreiner is a volunteer at the Valentine Richmond History
Center and the Virginia Historical Society, and is an avid reader of old
newspapers.
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