The times., 1899-05-14
Not a Fad, But Coming Into
More General Use.
Its Production at One Time a Great
Industry.
Four Hundred and Twenty-Five Mill
ions Sold in a Single fcnr-The
Improved Article.

boxes. There is the paper collar manu-
facture. For decades it has laid dor
mant. A paper-eollariess generation has
grown up almost in total ignorance of the
fact that there was a time when the necks
of many men were encircled by paper. and
the manufacture Of paper collars was an
Industry that gave employment to thou
sands. numbered many valuable plants of
machinery. and sold its annual output for
millions of dollars. But now paper col
lars are coming in again-not into fashion,
alas. that day will never come. perhaps
but into more general use:
Are they a fad" asked the reporter.
mo. hardly that" replied the haber-
dasher; but the manufacturers have at
last discovered process by which paper
may be made to resemble linen so closely
that only the closest examination reveals
the deceit If you can speak of it as sucn.
And then, too they have found out how
to make standing collars OF paper ana can
s,Ipply any of the leading styles. One of
the principal causes of the paper collars
decline many years ago was the fact that
only rolled or turn-down patterns could
be made But since this obstacle has been
overcome, and the linen finish is SO per-
feet as to deceive an eye not locking for
limitations there is no reason why the
paper collar should not become once more
a popular article of masculine apparel. An
other thing in favor of this -re-estabiished
popularity is that it costs no more than
The price Of laundering a linen article
"A book could be written on the rise and
fall OF the paper collar manufacture, con-
tinued he. flirting the dust from the neg
ligee shirt boxes Even in the darkest
DAYS of the industry the paper collar never
fell into total disuse. although Tor many
wears il was not in evidence in New York
and other large cities. The beginnings OF
the industry were very modest. About
forty-ive years ago certain Walter Hunt.
who contested the priority of the inYen-
tion CT the sewing machine with Elias
Howe invented and introduced the first
paper collar in New York. 1t consisted oil
a strip of muslin with paper pasted on both
sides IL was used chiefly by actors. al
though Jew we're Iought and worn by II en-
who did not tread the boards. Little at
tenticn was paid to the original collar,
and fl was not until 1862 that its manufac-
ture as a staple article of trade was seri-
ously considered. Two Boston men, Evans
and Gray were their names, succeeded in
that year in interesting sufficient capital
10 establish a manufacturing plant, and
they introduced a rolled or turned-down
collar, made Of plain paper, with stamp
ing on the outer side TO initiate stitching
The material used was a superior quality
of linen paper which was nearly as strong
as linen itself and the collars retailed at 3
cents apiece. The demand for them was
immediate, and in a few weeks all of the
Northern States were clamoring for paper
collars. Every condition Of the times was
favorable for the innovation. The VA.
was going on. the tariff was soaring ut of
sight and there was premium on gold
which made linen expensive In the Union
armies paper collars received an especially
hearty welcome.
The first patent for an improvement in
paper collars was granted in 1864, two
years after Evans & Gray set
up their plant, to James Hoff-
several thousand dollars worth to a
strange man during the war. Some months
after the sale the capture of number OF
wagons loaded with paper collars by Gen.
eral Banks Red River expedition was re-
ported. and from the description, Mr.. Hoff-
man concluded that the collars were part
of the lot sold by him to the unknown
man. Just how they reached the place of
capture was a mystery, but he concluded
that the buyer had shipped them from New
York to the Bermudas or some neutral
port whence they had been run through
the blockade.
THE improvement patented by Hoffman
consisted of glazing the collars by means
of a preparation which made them look
like finished linen. In 1858 a second in
provement was made. This consisted OF
covering the collars with muslin on the
outer side. This made the collars more
durable and established a closer resemb-
lance 10 linen. In the manufacture CT the
all-paper collars 1t required extra labor tC
re-enforce the buttoDhoies- This was moi
necessary in the case of the muslin-coveret
II M in ba m ut
ure Of all-paper- collars was discontinued
A third Improvement. which brought th'
paper collar almost to perfection. was
patent molding designed to make il fit thi
neck properly.
improvements in the paper-collar ma
cbinery were made from time to time, in
suring rapidity. economy and supsrio
work Before long all the manufacturing
was done by machinery, and there were a
least thirty-ive firms and companies en-
gagged in the business and employing
something like 5000 men. women, AM
children New York Boston, and Spring
field. Mass. were the principal seats of tn
industry. and the paper collar boom con
tinued 10 grow and grow until 1858. Il
that year the pinnacle of success wa
reached. Something Ike 425, 00o pape
collars were turned out, the retail value o
which was in the neighborhood OF 81. 900.
O0o But from 1868 the demand for pape
collars In the United States began 10 sub
side, at first gradually and then with
rush One by one the firms and companie
engaged in the industry closed their fac
tories. or took up the manufacture of othe
articles, until finally there were only fou
or FIVE paper collar concerns left TO battl
for the industry's expense
THE causes OF this wonderful slum
were various and obvious. First. there wa
the reduced price OF linen and the rapi
growth and development of the laundrie
Second. there occurred one of those might
reyulsions in fashion which declared fc
the universal wear OF the standing COLA
for which style the material OF the pape
collar, as then manufactured, would NJ
answer. Third. there Was the inventio
OF the celluioid collar, which at once be
came almost as popular as the paper CO.
lar. and for a while the daily consumptio
amounted to about 5000 collars Not one
third of that amount is sold now CellI
loId collars crack and turn yellow, an
tin1id folks will not wear them becaus
so much guneotton Is used IN thu mant
faciGre that they are always 4 menace
the comfort and safety OF the wearer.
.The demand for the paper collar dul
Ing the war and In the following yea
was By no means confined TO the crude se'
tions CT the country, as the younger gel
Grafton might imagine. From the labor
tory of thought, Boston. to the land
the nocturnal sandelub. Chicago al
thence on to the Pacific Slope, every con
mercial. Industrial, and intellectual cent
Rleefully subscribed TO the conveniences
the paper collar. although In the East u
linen collar continued to hold its own
@ modest way In some parts of the Sou