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Cellophane
When DuPont chemists found a way to make the film product
moisture proof, they opened the door to a revolution in packaging,
and the Old Hickory cellophane plant was a direct out growth of
this achievement.
Cellophane's slogan well described its value to shoppers:
"Shows What it Protects - Protects What it Shows."
In the "old days," grocery shopers had required the aid
of a clerk in choosing their goods, in what was known as the
"crackerbarrel era" of shopping. With the advent
of cellophane, buyers could view the products for themselves, and
the product was given much of the credit for the evolvement of
supermarket shopping that is so popular today.
The first piece of cellophane rolled off the number one casting
machine at Old Hickory in September 1929, five years after the
material was first made in Buffalo. For many years its uses
multiplied and demand grew steadily, reaching a peak production
level at Old Hickory of 63 million pounds in 1957. This high
production level was aided by many process improvements, new
equipment, adoption of new methods and improved customer service.
When the cellophane plant began operations, many employees
moved to the new plant from rayon. For 21 years the two Old
Hickory facilities were members of the same department, and shared
many services such as the time office, employment, stores, and
maintenance shops. However, this method of operation came to
be used less and less and the services were completely separated
in 1950 with the formation of the Film Department. From then
until plant closing, only power services were supplied to Film by
Textile Fibers.
The cellophane plant shut down in 1964, almost simultaneously
with the startup of new facilities here for manufacturing "Corfam"
poromeric material. A second product, "Reemay,"
was only months away from initial production. With these
plants, in addition to the "Dacron" facility at Old
Hickory, many employees were able to continue their careers on new
products. Others elected to retire. A third group was
laid off from work, but after a short period most returned to work
on one of the new products. |
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