Many companies started out in neighboring communities in Hampden and Hampshire counties, as well as outside the area, and later moved to Holyoke. The lure of inexpensive power, skilled and unskilled labor, additional space availability and favorable rental arrangements enticed manufacturing concerns to the city. This account will add one more to the list: the story of Lockwood Envelope Specialties Incorporated.
Ray L. Lockwood, the one-time Treasurer of the Old Colony Envelope Company in Westfield, left his employment to start his own envelope production plant. The corporation was formed in 1930 with Ray L. Lockwood, Frank Auchter and Elbert L. Lockwood.
The company leased 5,000 square feet of space on Main Street in Westfield and planned to operate on October 1, 1930. The company was rapidly growing, and 1934 sales exceeded 1933 by 40%/
In April 1935, the company announced that it would be relocating to Holyoke. Its new location would be on the fourth floor of the Holyoke Supply Company building at 200 Race Street.
By this time, the company had expanded its product line to include manufacturing a variety of different-sized envelopes, money-holder envelopes, advertising items, cut-out work, card cutting, paneling, embossing and bordering. Ray Lockwood was now both president and Treasurer of the corporation. For a time, he and his spouse, Dorrilla, resided at 305 Hillside Ave. in Holyoke.
The company continued manufacturing and printing paper supplies into the 1940s. In the mid-1940s, the Lockwood company served as the nationwide distributor for Craftmount Company’s photomounts. This accounted for 70% of Craftmount’s production. More information relating to Craftmount can be found in this blog series. The alphabetical index will guide you to the Craftmount story.
In 1949, Craftmount purchased a partial interest in the Lockwood company, and in 1951, purchased and absorbed the remainder of the company. This ended Lockwood Envelope Specialties’ 16 years of operating in Holyoke.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription): Price & Lee Holyoke, Massachusetts City Directories
No comments:
Post a Comment