Descriptive Summary
Repository: Framingham History Center, https://www.framinghamhistory.org/
Creator: Dennison Manufacturing Company
Title: Dennison Manufacturing Company Archives, 1844-1990
Quantity: 144 linear ft. (273 boxes)
Abstract: Records of the Dennison Manufacturing Company, 1844-1990, document the history, financial performance, product development, marketing programs, publications and human resource management of the company. Dennison was a Framingham, Massachusetts based paper products manufacturer with leadership positions in the retailing and industrial identification systems markets and stationery products markets. In 1897, Dennison centralized its headquarters and manufacturing in Framingham and was one of Framingham’s largest employers until it merged in 1990 with Avery International to become Avery Dennison, headquartered in California. (2017). The last Dennison operation remaining in Framingham closed in 2013. With $6.6 billion in sales in 2017, Avery Dennison is a worldwide leader in adhesive technologies, display graphics, packaging materials, retail marking systems designed to engage customers, build brands and manage inventories.
Provenance: Gift of Avery Dennison Corporation, 2013
The corporate records were part of the Dennison Mfg. Company’s History Room and Archives, originally created by Henry S. Dennison, President, 1917-1952. The original History Room Archives had been shipped to California in 1990 where they sat for almost 25 years until they were thankfully returned to Framingham and the care of the Framingham History Center (FHC). In 2013 Avery Dennison gave the Framingham History Center all of the available records from this collection. FHC retained roughly one-third of the records. FHC gave the remaining records to the Baker Library of Harvard Business School, the primary repository of the Henry S. Dennison Papers, 1900-1971.
Processing Information:
Processed and completed September 2018 by Nancy L. Prince
Assisted by: FHC Executive Director Annie Murphy, FHC Assistant Director Laura Stagliola and former FHC Curator Dana Ricciardi; former Dennison Executives Pete Allen, Lou D’Amaro and Burt Marmer; Dennison Collections Committee Members Pat Lavin and Susan Silva; FHC volunteers Dawn Buckley, Chris Anschuetz and Nate Anschuetz; FHC Tom Desilets Memorial Interns James King, Kelly Coates, Sam O’Connor, Clare O’Connor and Libby Goodreau.
Preferred Citation:
Cite as: Dennison Manufacturing Company Archives. Framingham History Center, Framingham, MA
Historical Note:
Dennison Manufacturing Company was at the forefront of progressive management, technological innovation, and manufacturing and marketing ingenuity. From creating the first American-made paper boxes, to producing the ubiquitous tags and labels that helped to organize and automate offices and retail stores, the Dennison name meant Quality. The name was regarded in that light both by businesses that depended on Dennison’s products and processes and by household consumers who trusted Dennison to reflect and help steer a uniquely American aesthetic. Read more…
Scope and Content
The Framingham History Center is fortunate to have a detailed historical record of the Dennison Manufacturing Company, initially archived by Henry S. Dennison in the Dennison History Room at the Company’s Framingham headquarters. Dennison products were keepsakes, and their catalogs, marketing materials, Bogie Books and other ephemera are at the same time both works of art and icons of American culture. The Company kept detailed records, studied its history and maintained detailed minutes of the various committees and employee programs. It has been a labor of love and respect for the Framingham History Center to archive, catalog, exhibit and make available for study these artifacts of a business that had such an impact on American culture and our way of doing business for nearly 150 years.
Series Outline:
The collection is arranged in the following series:
- Series 1: Governance including organization charts, patents, company policies; also property, plant and equipment (10 boxes)
- Series 2: Financials including company annual financial performance and presidential statements made to stockholders (7 boxes)
- Series 3: Company History & the Dennison History Room (27 boxes)
- Series 4: Departmental Annual Reports (11 boxes)
- Series 5: Human Resources (16 boxes)
- Series 6: International Trade and Foreign Offices (14 boxes)
- Series 7: World War 1 and World War 2 (9 boxes)
- Series 8: Comprehensive Product Catalogs and Price Lists for Stationers, Jewelers, and Chain & Variety Stores (17 boxes)
- Series 9: Marketing Initiatives, Branding and Iconic Images, Advertising, branding for others, Dennison retail stores and sales force; competition (13 boxes)
- Series 10: Publications for Dennison dealers, employees and customers (21 boxes)
- Series 11: Boxes, Jewelers’ Products and Packaging (2 boxes)
- Series 12: Marking Systems – Tags and Labels, Marking Equipment (18 boxes)
- Series 13: Crepe and Tissue Paper (13 boxes)
- Series 14: Holiday Line including Christmas and Halloween (14 boxes)
- Series 15: Stationery Products for Office and Home Use, including hobby, arts and crafts, EDP, and medical products (7 boxes)
- Series 16: Henry S. Dennison Papers – writings, speeches, and biographical papers (8 boxes)
- Series 17: Dennison Family Papers – Andrew, Aaron Lufkin and Charles Sumner , Eliphalet Whorf (9 boxes)
- Series 18: Company Scrapbooks – History, Advertising, News (16 boxes)
- Series 19: Dennison Over-sized Materials – Visitor Logs, Portfolios, Blueprints (10 boxes)
- Series 20: Company Photograph Albums (9 boxes)
- Series 21: Financial Ledgers (8 boxes)
- Series 22: Correspondence, History Recollections; Brunswick, Maine (11 boxes)
- Series 23: Research Lab Notebooks and Books from the Dennison Company Library (4 boxes)
