Author Topic: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack  (Read 23133 times)

Offline BLeafe

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The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« on: January 12, 2010, 12:49:13 AM »
« Last Edit: July 08, 2012, 05:19:19 PM by BLeafe »


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Offline BLeafe

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2012, 05:36:51 PM »
I came across something today that made me dig deeper into the Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co. of Hackensack.

The company moved to Hackensack from New York City at the turn of the century (Picture 1). I wasn't sure where it was located, but I got a clue from a railroad site (Picture 2). Picture 3 shows an ad for the company.

(click on Pictures 4-7 to enlarge)

Somewhere around 1921, Tait Paper & Color Industries was set up as a holding company comprising all remaining manufacturing plants for wallpaper and color, including Campbell and two other companies in Hackensack (see illustrations in Picture 4).

Campbell left Hackensack and moved to Glens Falls, NY, in 1928. In 1929, a reorganization resulted in the formation of the Imperial Paper and Color Corporation.

Back to Wm. Campbell: some examples of the company's output are in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum (one of two Smithsonian museums in New York City):

http://xrl.us/WmCampbell1  (Picture 5)

A bit more interesting: http://xrl.us/WmCampbell2  (Picture 6)

This one may be of particular local interest: http://xrl.us/WmCampbellTheOritani (Picture 7)

DESCRIPTION of "The Oritani":

Repeating design of stream with canoes carrying Indians, some carrying rifles, some fishing. Trees form a band in the background. Top margin stamped: Antiseptic Pat'd 8-9-04, and Wm. Campbell-Wall-Paper-Co., with color register marks. Bottom margin stamped: The Oritani, Aegli Desgr, 5015. Printed in greens, red and browns, the trees in "a" largely green, and those in "b" in brown.


The description says it's a stream, but I wonder if it could be a river.


So what prompted me to spend my afternoon doing this unplanned research?

While looking at some family papers, I came across my paternal grandmother's (b. 1893) resume from 1961 (sending out resumes at age 68?). What caught my eye was one of three jobs that were listed as "Previous to 1926":

"Tait Paper & Color Industries (Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co.), Hackensack, N.J., Secretary to Vice-President"


I also found a 1947 Bergen Evening Record article about her father - my great-grandfather - Seymour Dunbar of Little Ferry, who was an author and historian who died earlier that year at age 81. It told about an 1847 proclamation from a US general during the Mexican War that threatened Mexican towns with "wholesale reprisals" if his Army supply trains were molested.

Seymour had the only copy of this document and had willed it to the University of Cincinnati. He also provided that photostats of the document be sent to the Library of Congress, the War and State Departments, and the University of Mexico - all of whom had asked for copies of the document during his lifetime.

One other interesting tidbit: Seymour lived his last year with his daughter, who had divorced my grandfather and was now married to a man named Stanley Kavrik.

They lived at 20 Kavrik St. in Little Ferry.

I think Stanley was a captain in the Little Ferry PD, but I don't know the origin of the street name. It must be weird living on a street named for someone in your family.

« Last Edit: July 08, 2012, 05:45:10 PM by BLeafe »
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Offline irons35

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2012, 09:16:47 PM »
the Campbell wallpaper factory became Packards. the tracks used to run all thru the property. 

Offline BLeafe

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2012, 03:37:42 PM »
Thanks, Mike.

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Offline Editor

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2012, 10:56:47 AM »
Love this post.  Thanks Bob.

Offline BLeafe

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2012, 03:18:24 PM »
Family involvement - however slight - always provides extra digging motivation.

Hey - do we have any images of what existed on that site prior to the Packard's building? They don't blow up too well, but now we have the three small illustrations of the Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co., the Lincrusta-Walton Co., and the third one whose name I can't make out. It looks like "Morris" or "Norris", but I couldn't find anything online for those names.

I don't know where Lincrusta or the nameless one were located.

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Offline Homer Jones

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2012, 03:56:37 PM »
Use the smockstack as a common reference point and I would bet you a dollar that the three drawings show the same Campbell/ Packards property but from three different perspectives.

Offline BLeafe

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2012, 08:17:30 PM »
That would be interesting, but I don't put much faith in illustrations - especially when the 3 "perspectives" show the wind uniformly blowing to the right. Actually, that occurs in all 5 illustrations, so there's a bit too much artistic license for my taste.

I emailed Lincrusta in the UK to see if they have an address for the old Hackensack facility and I found the name of the third Hackensack company: "Hobbs Wall Paper Co."

I also found a mention of the 3 companies in a New Jersey listing under "Hackensack" (below). It shows an address for Hobbs as "18th and Willow av", which doesn't sound like the Packard's location, but a little more digging found that that address is probably for a Hobbs location in Hoboken.


Is "smockstacks" a Steve Allen reference?  ;)

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Offline irons35

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #8 on: July 10, 2012, 09:08:36 PM »
yes, 18th and Willow is in Hoboken. the factory was most likely bounded by Clinton, 18th, Willow and the railroad tracks.  the building has since been replaced.

Offline irons35

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #9 on: July 10, 2012, 09:12:33 PM »
the packards building was the wallpaper factory.  I have seen photos of the building on the internet, one of the shots was a shot from southwest to northeast. the name William B Campbell Wallpaper was clearly painted on the south facing side of the building.   if you look close at the illustration provided here, you see the main building and the outbuildings on temple ave, along with the stack that was closer to Hackensack Ave.

Offline irons35

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2012, 09:17:42 PM »


an 1897 entry from the book Bergen County Panorama

"and Krone Brothers began turning out educational
books and school stationery at Hackensack, where, shortly after-
wards, the large William Campbell Wall Paper Company located"

Offline BLeafe

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #11 on: July 12, 2012, 05:30:08 PM »
I emailed Lincrusta in the UK to see if they have an address for the old Hackensack facility...

...and today I got a reply:

"Dear Bob

Many thanks for your enquiry - we always love to hear of people interested in Lincrusta's history.

Unfortunately due to changes in ownership of Lincrusta here in the UK, over the years much of the archives and information on its history have been lost, in particular relating to the US."



Oh well.

Hey, Mike.........got anything on Lincrusta-Walton or Hobbs Wall Paper Co. in your archives?

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Offline just watching

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #12 on: July 14, 2012, 06:01:50 PM »
Irons35 is right.  The old Wallpaper factory became Packards.  The smokestack was closer to Hackensack Ave, in what is now the parking lot of Target between the Target front entrance and Hackensack Ave.  I thought the tall smokestack should have been saved as a momento of the past.  Sure, they would have lost a few parking spaces, but saved on the cost of demolition and disposal.

It's also possible the some of the smaller old buildings were torn down to make parking for Packards.

Note that wallpaper SALES were still made from the basement level long after Packards was established.  There was a huge wall coverings store there.  I remember my folks buying wallpaper there in the 70's, and I think that store survived at least to the 80's.

Offline BLeafe

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #13 on: July 14, 2012, 06:57:34 PM »
I think we've pretty much established that Packard's was where the Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co. had been. We need info on where Hobbs Wall Paper Co. and Lincrusta-Walton Co. were located.

BTW - "momento" is Spanish for "moment". I think you want "memento".

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Offline BLeafe

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Re: The Wm. Campbell Wall Paper Co, Hackensack
« Reply #14 on: July 22, 2013, 04:15:19 PM »
the packards building was the wallpaper factory.  I have seen photos of the building on the internet, one of the shots was a shot from southwest to northeast. the name William B Campbell Wallpaper was clearly painted on the south facing side of the building.

While searching for something else today, I came across this illustration of the William Campbell & Co. Wall Paper factory and it sounds exactly like what you described. It's pretty easy to see Packard's when looking at this image. Some of the railroad tracks you mentioned are also visible.

I found it a string-tied photo book I have that's simply titled, "Hackensack, New Jersey" (second picture). It was put out by The Evening Record Publishing Co., 119-121 Main St, Hackensack, and strangely, is undated. Even stranger is the fact that it shows photos from other towns too.

I'll scan some of the other photos when I get a chance.

Click the images to enlarge.

« Last Edit: July 22, 2013, 04:20:14 PM by BLeafe »
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