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Test your knowledge of former paper plant
Rob Sutton of Sylva sent us a note this week pointing out that Jackson Paper Co. displays a nativity scene just as Mead Corp., which operated in Jackson Paper’s location from 1927 until 1974, did. Rob’s mention of Mead reminded me of the newsroom’s treasure trove of old issues of The Sylvan, a newsletter/magazine published by the company.
Hattie Hilda Allison (Sutton back then) edited the monthly publication.
Looking through several December issues, the answers to a 1951 quiz about Mead piqued my interest. Luckily, the November 1951 magazine was also available, and I was able to find the questions.
Here’s the quiz, titled “What Do You Know About Mead?,” which provides a lot of information about a company that was once one of Jackson County’s largest employers. The 1951 winner was Claude Jones, office manager, who was the first Mead employee to turn in a correct set of answers.
What Do You Know About Mead?
1. Do you recognize the gentleman at right?
2. How much money has been invested by Mead shareholders for every job at Mead?
3. Mead ranks among the first five companies in the production of a) white paper; b) paper tape; c) paper napkins?
4. Can you arrange these materials in the order of the amounts Mead uses every year? (Soda ash, wood, pulp, coal and chlorine.
5. A letter from a customer mentioned “the canary I’m writing on.” Did he mean a) a new kind of carrier pigeon; b) a shade of our Moistrite Bond; or c) he was giving us the bird?
6. One of these figures in Mead’s total direct tax bill for 1950. Another is Mead’s profit for 1950. Can you pick them out:? ($7,175,441; $4,278,493; $6,377,397).
7. President C.R. Van De Car Jr. says that in the past five years, Mead has put into better mills and tools about: a) $5,000,000; b) $7,000,000; c) $19,000,000;
8. A pipefitter, a housewife and a salesman – these people have one thing in common. They are all: a) Among Mead’s 6,000 employees; b) Republicans; c) Among Mead’s 6,000 shareholders; d) stamp collectors; c) near-sighted;
9. Mead shareholders live in every state in many foreign countries. Which of the following is not the home a Mead owner? (Hawaii, Scotland, Norway, Brazil or Panama);
10. Mead’s 1950 taxes on freight came to a) $5,000; b) $50,000; c) $500,000;
11. Two hundred and twenty-one paper merchants sell Mead white paper. They have offices in every state except a) Nevada, Vermont, Wyoming; b) Maine, Colorado, California; c) Utah, Idaho, New Hampshire;
12. How many suppliers does it take to keep Mead in materials and supplies (not counting wood)? (605; 1,850: 1,500);
13. How many wood dealers and farmers sell pulpwood to Mead? (5,675; 14,900; 6,175);
14. When Mead saves regular amounts to replace its machines and tools as they wear out, the accountants call it a) defamation; b) depredation; c) depreciation;
15. In 1950, this amounted to: a) $2,234,223; b) $5,863,292; c) $3,050,496; 16. If you look for earnings Mead has retained in the business, you’ll find them: a) salted away in a bank vault; b) tucked in the treasurer’s bottom drawer; c) in the form of better tools and machines, right here in our own plant.
Answers:
1. Chairman of the Board Sydney Ferguson; 2. $12,135 is invested in every Mead job; 3. Mead’s among the first five in white paper; 4. Mead uses wood, coal, pulp, soda ash and chlorine, in that order; 5. Some Moistrite Bond is canary in color; 6. Mead’s taxes for 1950, $7,175.441, were greater than the profit of $6,377,397; 7. Twenty-five million has been invested in better tools in the last five years by Mead; 8. Among Mead’s 6,000 shareholders; 9. Mead shareholders live in Hawaii, Scotland, Brazil and Panama, but not in Norway; 10. Our federal freight tax in 1950 was half a million; 11. Our paper merchants operate in 45 states, but not in Nevada, Vermont and Wyoming; 12. We have 1,500 suppliers; 13. We get pulpwood from 6,175 farmers and wood dealers; 14. Depreciation; 15. $2,234,223 was our depreciation in 1950; 16. Earnings are retained in the form of better tools and machines.
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