Opportunity in Cellophane
The prod net ion of cellophane containers is
developing into quite a business in 14'ortli
Carolina. Future prospects are considered
as being extremely bright.
BETTER keep an eye on cello¬
phane. It may develop into
one of North Carolina’s lusti¬
est industries.
Next time you buy a bag of pop¬
corn, salted peanuts, a pair of ny¬
lon stockings, a bar of candy or
anything else wrapped in cello¬
phane. take a good look at the
wrapping before you throw it
away. It could easily have been
made in Charlotte, which has two
cellophane printing and packaging
plants or in Greensboro, which has
one.
These three plants give North
Carolina a big jump over most
states in this business. The only
other Southern state with a com¬
mercial plant, so far as men in the
trade can determine, is Georgia-
Tom's salted peanuts have been
Ekaged for many years at Colum-
-
The Package Products Company
in Charlotte has been in produc¬
tion since last September. Its four
owners, all under 40 years of age.
have had considerable experience
in various phases of the packag¬
ing business. They are T. J. Nor¬
man, Jr., A. M. Murrell. Jr., Don
Davidson, Jr., and Sam Ryburn.
Plans for launching the new busi¬
ness were made several years ago
but the war interfered. Two of the
owners, Davidson and Ryburn,
were in the service; the others car¬
ried on preliminary work, how¬
ever, and ordered machinery and
equipment. The firm plans a two-
shift schedule as soon as the plant
can be assured of an adequate sup¬
ply of cellophane, which is as diffi¬
cult to obtain as newsprint.
The Lassiter Press, Inc., began
production a few days ago. after
investing more than $100,000 in
equipment alone. The Transparent
Packings Corporation in Greens¬
boro also started production re¬
cently.
Ideal Local Conditions
A1 Murrell, general manager of
the initial firm, Package Products,
is highly optimistic over prospects
for the cellophane packaging in¬
dustry in the state. He points out
that even the climate is favorable
THE STATE. JUNE 28. 1947
Ki/ GEORGE HITTER
not too much humidity in the
air; humidity, it seems, has some
effect on the pigmented ink used
in the printing process.
Already the fledgling firm is
swamped with orders and is hard-
pressed getting enough cellophane
to meet the demand. Business has
poured in from as far south as
Miami, as far north as New York,
and as far west as Kansas City.
Right here in North Carolina the
rapidly-growing customer list in¬
cludes candy factories at Dunn.
Hickory. Winston-Salem, and Char¬
lotte, a cookie company at Hender¬
sonville. a food products firm at
Salisbury, a yarn mill at Shelby,
and hosiery plants at Burlington.
Concord, and Charlotte. Each cus¬
tomer has his own distinctive cello¬
phane package— of a size, pattern,
and artistic design to suit his
taste.
Big Demand
Time was when the cellophane
business was devoted mainly to
five-cent products, such as peanuts,
candy, potato chips, and peanut-
butter sandwiches. But now it
seems as if manufacturers of ev¬
erything from powder puffs to
brake linings are rushing to wrap
their products in the glistening sub¬
stance. And there's no denying that
the transparent wrapping "does
things" for a product.
"There's nothing prettier to me
than dried beans wrapped in cello¬
phane." affirms A1 Murrell. Dried
and frozen food, from prunes to
asparagus tips, not only acquire a
sort of glamor under this wrap¬
ping but also enable the housewife
to see exactly what she's getting.
You may buy a "pig in a poke"
these days but chances are the
porker will be wrapped in shiny
cellophane, with perhaps a red
ribbon attached.
The textile industry offers a
promising outlet for cellophane
bags. Already towels, wash rags,
baby clothes, and many other prod¬
ucts of North Carolina factories
are finding their way into cello¬
phane.
The cellophane bags can be
plenty attractive. The plants main¬
tain art departments to aid cus¬
tomers in planning designs to suit
their needs. The products are col¬
orful, too. Intricate inking ma¬
chines can put four colors on a
single bag. including gold and sil¬
ver tones, and the specially pre¬
pared ink dries almost as soon as it
hits the cellophane. ( Lassiter Press,
owned by Hanes Lassiter, has a spe¬
cial rotogravure press that uses
copper plates and can give half¬
tone effects to the colors, making
for highly artistic work.)
Details of Manufacture
The Package Products Press, like
the one in Greensboro, costs about
$15,000 — if you plan to give some¬
body one for a birthday present.
It is made up of four complete
color heads, 15 electric motors, gas
units, a refrigeration unit, a steam
unit, and uses both alternating and
direct current. Like a newspaper
press, it uses a roll or web of paper
— or rather cellophane - and the
printing is a continuous operation
(Cellophane, by the way, is "first
cousin" to rayon and is made by
the same companies that turn out
rayon.)
At one point in the printing
process, the cellophane passes di¬
rectly above a line of gas jets —
used to melt the ink and make it
stick with ease to the cellophane.
At another place, water which is
only a few degrees above freezing
point, cools the material and pro¬
vides the necessary moisture.
After the cellophane takes on its
colors, it travels 10 feet away from
the inking rolls — becoming bone
dry during this short time- and is
rewound on rolls at a speed of
about 250 feet a minute.
The web is next fed into the
bag-making machine — this will
cost you about $20,000 — which
has an electric-eye control to keep
all bags standard size. This amaz¬
ing machine can turn out as many
as 11,000 bags an hour either
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