Seaman Paper originated in Chicago, Illinois. It was formed by three Seaman brothers and George Jones. The company filled a need between the paper mills and the printers and converters, and at one point was the largest paper merchant house in the United States.
The depression, plus the deaths of George Seaman and George Jones, caused the paper merchant operation to decline. In 1946 the Seaman’s decided to buy a paper mill in Otter River, MA. They asked George Jones II, who was just leaving the navy after World War II if he would run the mill. Mr. Jones was only 13 years old when he lost his father, and had worked summers in the paper mill as he was growing up. This was his opportunity to run his own mill, and Mr. Jones dedicated his life to making it work.
When Mr. Jones came to the mill in 1946, it contained one machine running 300 feet/minute, producing napkin and toweling.
Over the years, Mr. Jones invested in new equipment and added a second machine. He positioned the mill to make carbonizing tissue, a technical specialty grade.
Carbonizing was 100% of the mill production in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
His investments created Seaman’s ability to manufacture high-quality lightweight papers, which would be important in allowing the company to respond to market changes.
In 1979, Mr. Jones's sons, George and Jamie, joined the business. That same year the demand for carbonizing plummeted as alternatives gained popularity. By 1982 Seaman was completely out of carbonizing tissue and was producing jumbo rolls of directory opaque printing and bond paper. The Joneses realized that they were competing with much larger mills and they would need to find markets where they would be more important to their customers. Seaman’s expertise was manufacturing lightweight papers, so they targeted value-added products made from lightweight papers that they produced.
During the next 30 years, Seaman developed converting capabilities to sheet, fold, print, wax, crepe, coat, slit and interfold. This allowed Seaman to market reams of wrapping tissue, consumer tissue folds, crepe streamers and folds, interleaving, food service, and other lightweight specialties.
Today, Seaman’s domestic operations cover over 900,000 square feet and employ over 700 people. During this period the Jones Family negotiated a purchase plan with the Seamans, and now the Jones Family owns 100% of Seaman Paper Company of Massachusetts Inc.
In 2000 Globalization started to affect Seaman and its customers. Seaman responded by creating Seaman Paper Asia (SPA) in Hong Kong in 2003 and Seaman Packaging Materials in Dongguan. This allowed Seaman to source, manufacture, and trade in Hong Kong and mainland China. A dedicated manufacturing source in Vietnam was established in 2009.
In 2015 Seaman Paper started its direct presence in Europe by acquiring WerolaKrepp und Buntpapierfabrik in Rastatt, Germany to market and stock reams of wrapping tissue, tissue folds and crepe paper for the European consumer products and retail market.
To position itself to support global supply chains to its customers, Seaman established a joint venture company in Italy with the Pagliani family to print and convert white and colored tissue papers for the European retail packaging market. Seaman Paper Italia (SPI) is also our European think tank for products to replace plastic in the apparel supply chain.
Seaman Paper continues to develop new products and invest in new equipment to meet our customers' evolving needs. We are putting an even stronger emphasis on social responsibility with respect toward new product development and sustainable manufacturing across our (complex) global supply chain. Today we are hyper-focused on replacing single-use plastics with innovative paper-based alternatives, and the future is bright.
