Pictures: On left is the Globe Mill owned by Kimberly Clark and Company; and to the right is the George A. Whiting mill, 1882.
Picture descriptions: on left is the Globe Mill owned by Kimberly Clark and Company; on right is the George A. Whiting mill taken around 1882.
Picture descriptions: on left is the Globe Mill owned by Kimberly Clark and Company; on right is the George A. Whiting mill taken around 1882.
Founding to the invention of Cellucotton
Kimberly Clark was founded in 1872 by John A. Kimberly, Charles B Clark, Havilah Babcock, and Frank C. Shattuck. Kimberly Clark first specialized in Newsprint, then added wrapping paper and book paper. Kimberly was a general store owner in Neenah. Clark was a Civil War veteran who wanted to create a paper mill better than the Neenah Paper Mill. Because of good river banks, mill construction was cheap and simple. Colonel Myron Haynes told Clark that the Red Mill (Neenah Paper Mill) could make Neenah a big deal. Clark asked Haynes to leave the Red Mill where he was a manager and work for Clark. The proposed mill would make newsprint entirely out of linen and cotton rags, and this mill would be the first in Wisconsin to use these materials. Clark and Haynes estimated that they would need about $30.000 to get this paper company running and Clark only had about $10,000 saved from the Civil War. They approached Kimberly because they thought he would have the money to help them. Kimberly accepted their proposal.
The founders had interesting lives. Clark lost his father when he was very young and started working at age eleven in a chair factory. He had huge amount of self confidence which allowed him to reach the top in whatever he did. C.B. Clark married Caroline Hubbard, rose to captain in the Civil War, and just kept pushing for more out of life. Kimberly moved to Neenah from Troy, New York, and opened a dry goods general store. He built the Neenah Flour Mill in 1850 and made a large share of money giving him the freedom to invest with Clark. Frank C. Shattuck was born and raised in Coleraine, Massachusetts, after turning seventeen he moved to New York City, then Chicago, then Fond du Lac, and then ran a portable general store in Oshkosh before finally settling in Neenah. Originally there was supposed to be five partners, one of them being George Whiting. Mr. Whiting reportedly wanted too much control in the company, so the other founders kicked him out. Mr. Whiting eventually opened his own paper mill in Menasha, WI and Plover, WI.
Kimberly Clark had four founding principles: manufacture the best possible product, serve customers well and deal fairly to gain confidence and good will, deal fairly with employees, and expand capacity as demand for product justifies; finance this expansion out of profits. The founders manufactured the best possible product by having the only mill in the Midwest that made newsprint from linen and cotton rags; this mill was called the Globe Mill and this mill created a very high quality product. The founders served customers well by having customer service being a major part of business and never turning down any request made of the company. The founders treated employees by having a sick fund and health insurance, as well as having safety as a top priority. The founders were extremely cautious when it came to expansion, for the founders planned business ventures well. The closest mill that could match the Globe Mill was in Ohio, three hundred miles away. Clark and Kimberly had a hands on management style, and they worked many hours.
Kimberly Clark expanded quickly in the early years. The Red Mill (Neenah Paper Mill) was purchased in 1874. The Globe Mill was expanded in 1876. A machine was installed that could put paper on rolls, this machine was called Fourdrinier. In 1878, the founders built Atlas Co. in Appleton so the founders could experiment with various other types of paper without ruining Kimberly Clark's name. The company was able to add a lot of mills quickly. They added the Badger Mill next to the Globe mill and tore down the Red Mill and built Neenah Paper there. By 1886, the company had enough mills to turn out a diverse line of products at about seventy tons daily. Kimberly Clark also formed a subsidiary called Telulah Paper to reward young managers. Telulah built a two machine mill in Appleton that could turn out twenty tons of paper a day. Kimberly Clark relocated to Appleton, which at the time was desolate. They took good care of their employees and also built a three machine mill in Appleton that was state of the art. In 1897, Kimberly Clark realized that the Fox Cities could no longer sustain the growth. Because of this Kimberly Clark built a new mill in Quinnesec Falls, about one hundred thirty five miles north of Neenah. This mill showed management that Kimberly Clark could expand outside of Neenah. Kimberly Clark also had great customer satisfaction at this time. In 1907, F. J. Sensenbrenner becomes effectively CEO because Kimberly is the only founder that is still alive and he withdraws from leadership. Sensenbrenner led the company for forty years, and was a great leader. He had a excellent work ethic that was imposed on him by Clark when Clark yelled at Sensenbrenner for being five minutes late to work. Sensenbrenner even came into work after he had gotten married earlier in the day.
Sources:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1wfWMbA6QSY/UsT0_i1khiI/AAAAAAAAGl4/zGw0Gy-L1tQ/s1600/Whiting+25.jpg; picture of Globe Mill courtesy of NeenahHistory Flickr account.
Spector, Robert, and William W. Wicks. Shared Values: A History of Kimberly-Clark. Lyme, CT: Greenwich Pub. Group, 1997.
The founders had interesting lives. Clark lost his father when he was very young and started working at age eleven in a chair factory. He had huge amount of self confidence which allowed him to reach the top in whatever he did. C.B. Clark married Caroline Hubbard, rose to captain in the Civil War, and just kept pushing for more out of life. Kimberly moved to Neenah from Troy, New York, and opened a dry goods general store. He built the Neenah Flour Mill in 1850 and made a large share of money giving him the freedom to invest with Clark. Frank C. Shattuck was born and raised in Coleraine, Massachusetts, after turning seventeen he moved to New York City, then Chicago, then Fond du Lac, and then ran a portable general store in Oshkosh before finally settling in Neenah. Originally there was supposed to be five partners, one of them being George Whiting. Mr. Whiting reportedly wanted too much control in the company, so the other founders kicked him out. Mr. Whiting eventually opened his own paper mill in Menasha, WI and Plover, WI.
Kimberly Clark had four founding principles: manufacture the best possible product, serve customers well and deal fairly to gain confidence and good will, deal fairly with employees, and expand capacity as demand for product justifies; finance this expansion out of profits. The founders manufactured the best possible product by having the only mill in the Midwest that made newsprint from linen and cotton rags; this mill was called the Globe Mill and this mill created a very high quality product. The founders served customers well by having customer service being a major part of business and never turning down any request made of the company. The founders treated employees by having a sick fund and health insurance, as well as having safety as a top priority. The founders were extremely cautious when it came to expansion, for the founders planned business ventures well. The closest mill that could match the Globe Mill was in Ohio, three hundred miles away. Clark and Kimberly had a hands on management style, and they worked many hours.
Kimberly Clark expanded quickly in the early years. The Red Mill (Neenah Paper Mill) was purchased in 1874. The Globe Mill was expanded in 1876. A machine was installed that could put paper on rolls, this machine was called Fourdrinier. In 1878, the founders built Atlas Co. in Appleton so the founders could experiment with various other types of paper without ruining Kimberly Clark's name. The company was able to add a lot of mills quickly. They added the Badger Mill next to the Globe mill and tore down the Red Mill and built Neenah Paper there. By 1886, the company had enough mills to turn out a diverse line of products at about seventy tons daily. Kimberly Clark also formed a subsidiary called Telulah Paper to reward young managers. Telulah built a two machine mill in Appleton that could turn out twenty tons of paper a day. Kimberly Clark relocated to Appleton, which at the time was desolate. They took good care of their employees and also built a three machine mill in Appleton that was state of the art. In 1897, Kimberly Clark realized that the Fox Cities could no longer sustain the growth. Because of this Kimberly Clark built a new mill in Quinnesec Falls, about one hundred thirty five miles north of Neenah. This mill showed management that Kimberly Clark could expand outside of Neenah. Kimberly Clark also had great customer satisfaction at this time. In 1907, F. J. Sensenbrenner becomes effectively CEO because Kimberly is the only founder that is still alive and he withdraws from leadership. Sensenbrenner led the company for forty years, and was a great leader. He had a excellent work ethic that was imposed on him by Clark when Clark yelled at Sensenbrenner for being five minutes late to work. Sensenbrenner even came into work after he had gotten married earlier in the day.
Sources:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1wfWMbA6QSY/UsT0_i1khiI/AAAAAAAAGl4/zGw0Gy-L1tQ/s1600/Whiting+25.jpg; picture of Globe Mill courtesy of NeenahHistory Flickr account.
Spector, Robert, and William W. Wicks. Shared Values: A History of Kimberly-Clark. Lyme, CT: Greenwich Pub. Group, 1997.
