One would not suspect that during the Great Depression, someone would leave a secure job and risk starting a business. However, this is the story of Floyd R. Graham, who left a 17-year career at American Tissue Mills to form the Graham Manufacturing Company.
Mr. Graham's journey was quite a story of motivation, dedication, and commitment. He was born in 1888 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and orphaned at age 8. He and his brother went to live with their uncle in Cohoes, New York. The family moved to New Bedford, where Mr. Graham went to work in the Wamsutta textile factory at age 14. He worked 11 hours daily for six workdays to earn a three-dollar weekly paycheck. After completing his workday, he attended night school to obtain an education.
His uncle moved the family to Holyoke in the very early 20th century, where they obtained employment in the former Lyman Mills, in the building which later became the home of Graham Manufacturing. He worked for a time at Farr-Alpaca Co., also in Holyoke.
He returned to Lawrence at age 21 to manage the loom fixers at the Hamilton Mills. He then accepted positions in Three Rivers, Springfield, and Florence, Massachusetts, and Hartford, Connecticut.
Already with a long work history, Floyd Graham returned to Holyoke at age 29 in 1917 to accept a position as an electrician at the Japanese Tissue Mills, later renamed the American Tissue Mills. He was promoted to plant engineer at its related corporation, the Perkins Mills.
In 1934, Floyd Graham and his spouse, Maude Graham, formed the Graham Manufacturing Company. Maude (Fillmore) Graham was raised in Three Rivers, Massachusetts, and was a Mount Holyoke graduate. She and her husband had married in 1914, one year after her graduation. As an aside, a news article reported that her family was directly descended from Millard J. Fillmore, the thirteenth president of the United States (1850-1853). Maude Graham was an activist and achiever, as during her tenure on the South Hadley School Committee, three new schools were erected in town: the Plains, Center, and Woodlawn Schools.
The formation, operation, and success of the Graham Manufacturing Company was a team effort shared by Floyd Graham, the President, and Maude Graham, its Treasurer. The company first operated out of the New York-New England Company building at 76 Ely Street in August 1934.
In July 1936, the company relocated to the former Hadley and Lyman Mills building at 15 (now 56) Canal Street. The building was owned by the Holyoke Gas & Electric Department, which promoted its space to prompt new businesses to operate in Holyoke. Graham would occupy 12,000 square feet of space in the main building. The company was producing paper napkins, which were in high demand.
In 1939, new equipment was purchased, and the company was operating three shifts to fulfill its orders.
During World War II, the company purchased M & M Machine Shop at 700 South East Street, Holyoke, and moved the small concern to its plant to manufacture small parts needed for the war effort. The subsidiary would be named the Graham Machine Shop.
In 1950, the company occasionally placed ads in the Holtoke Transcript for its GRACO line of facial tissues, which were sold in an assortment of colors, and paper lunch and dinner napkins. In 1952, the company was awarded a contract from the Defense Department for 100,000 packages of napkins.
In 1953, in conjunction with a resin paper treatment process by American Cyanamid Company, Graham introduced windshield wipes and wind-o-wipe paper towels. The treated paper was twice as strong as untreated paper when dry and five times as strong when wet.
1953 also marked the retirement of Floyd and Maude Graham, who turned management over to their son Lawrence A. Graham, the new President, D. Thomas Kearns, the sales manager, as Treasurer, and Gertrude Charon, Assistant Treasurer.
An open house for merchants to observe the factory and its products was held in 1954. The product line and customer base had expanded to include roll-type paper towels for barber shops, beauticians, and medical use. Business cards were provided to promote sales.
The Barb-ee Paper Towel was introduced by the company in 1954. A wood pulp by-product was added to the paper fibers to increase the paper towel's strength. The plan was to introduce this product to barbers as a replacement for cloth towels.
In 1956, the company was awarded a patent for its wall-mounted paper towel dispenser, which released one paper towel at a time.
The Canal Street plant had 35 employees in 1959. In 1960, the Holyoke G & E sold the mill complex to Harry and Philip Blum, owners of the Bay State Hat Company, for $35,000.
1962 saw Graham acquire the Holliston-based Shawmut Waxed Paper Company and move the operation to Holyoke's 45,000 square foot facility. The wholly owned subsidiary of Graham has been in business since 1892. The acquisition allowed for diversification of its product line in food packaging and laminating.
As time went on, Graham Manufacturing needed additional production space. In 1967, Graham purchased three buildings at the Hadley Mills site along Gatehouse Road from Holyoke G & E for $35,000. In 1968, the company acquired the nearby former Morart Gravure Building at 7 North Bridge Street. The extra 55,000 square feet of space resulted in Graham having a total of 155,000 square feet of floor space.
The company continued to diversify its available products to include disposable garments, surgical face masks, air filters, exam table paper rolls, and sanitary products.
Product line expansion was not the only area of change, as the company was sold to Johnson & Johnson, Inc. in 1970. Graham employed 85 and had 177,000 square feet of production and warehouse space.
The company continued in Holyoke and was again sold in 1979 to Little Rapids Corp. of Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1995, the plant was shut down. At the time, there were 50 employees with 5 retained to handle the reorganized regional distribution center in Holyoke.
In 1996, the entire row of buildings and ancillary buildings owned by Little Rapids Corp. was sold for $50,000 to Roger Boulanger of Ludlow. He owned Associated Pallets Inc., located at 60 Jackson Street in Holyoke, and planned to relocate from the 60,000 square-foot space to the over 170,000 square-foot facility at the former Graham plant. His customers included Friendly Ice Cream Company and H.P. Hood.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations include Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram, and Springfield (Massachusetts) Morning Union, with publication dates and pages shown.
MACRIS, Massachusetts Cultural Research Information System
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