Shredding paper : the rise and fall of Maine's mighty paper industry

From the early twentieth century until the 1960s, Maine led the United States in paper production. The state could have earned a reputation as the Detroit of paper production, however, the industry eventually slid toward failure. What happened? This book unwraps the changing US political economy since 1960, uncovers how the paper industry defined and interacted with labor relations, and peels away the layers of history that encompassed the rise and fall of Maine's mighty paper industry. For a century, the story of the nation's most widely read glossy magazines and card stock was one of capitalism, work, accommodation, and struggle. Local paper companies in Maine dominated the political landscape, controlling economic, workplace, land use, and water-use policies. Hillard examines the many contributing factors surrounding how Maine became a paper powerhouse and then shows how it lost that position to changing times and foreign interests. Through a retelling of labor relations and worker experiences from the late-nineteenth century up until the late 1990s, the book highlights how national conglomerates began absorbing family-owned companies over time, which were subject to Wall Street demands for greater short-term profits after 1980. This new political economy impacted the economy of the entire state and destroyed Maine's once-vaunted paper industry. The book tells the great and grim story of blue-collar workers and their families and analyzes how paper workers formulated a “folk” version of capitalism's history in their industry. Ultimately, it offers a telling example of the demise of big industry in the United States. From the early twentieth century until the 1960s, Maine led the nation in paper production. The state could have earned a reputation as the Detroit of paper production, however, the industry eventually slid towards failure. What happened? Shredding Paper unwraps the changing US political economy since 1960, uncovers how the paper industry defined and interacted with labor relations, and peels away the layers of history that encompassed the rise and downfall of Maine's mighty paper industry. Michael G. Hillard deconstructs the paper industry's unusual technological and economic history. For a century, the story of the nation's most widely read glossy magazines and IMB card stock was one of capitalism, work, accommodation, and struggle. Local paper companies in Maine dominated the political landscape, controlling economic, workplace, land use, and water use policies. Hillard examines the many contributing factors surrounding how Maine became a paper powerhouse and then shows how it lost that position to changing times and foreign interests. Through a retelling of labor relations and worker experience from the late nineteenth century up until the late-nineties, Hillard highlights how national conglomerates began absorbing family-owned companies, which were then subject to Wall Street demands for greater short-term profits after 1980. This new political economy impacted the economy of the entire state, and destroyed Maine's once-vaunted paper industry. Shredding Paper truthfully and transparently tells the great and grim story of blue-collar workers and families and analyzes how paper workers themselves formulated a "folk" version of a history of capitalism in their industry. Ultimately, Hillard offers a telling example of the demise of big industry in the United States From the early twentieth century until the 1960s, Maine led the nation in paper production. The state could have earned a reputation as the Detroit of paper production, however, the industry eventually slid toward failure. What happened? Shredding Paper unwraps the changing US political economy since 1960, uncovers how the paper industry defined and interacted with labor relations, and peels away the layers of history that encompassed the rise and fall of Maine's mighty paper industry. Michael G. Hillard deconstructs the paper industry's unusual technological and economic histories. For a century, the story of the nation's most widely read glossy magazines and card stock was one of capitalism, work, accommodation, and struggle. Local paper companies in Maine dominated the political landscape, controlling economic, workplace, land use, and water use policies. Hillard examines the many contributing factors surrounding how Maine became a paper powerhouse and then shows how it lost that position to changing times and foreign interests. Through a retelling of labor relations and worker experiences from the late nineteenth century up until the late 1990s, Hillard highlights how national conglomerates began absorbing family-owned companies over time, which were subject to Wall Street demands for greater short-term profits after 1980. This new political economy impacted the economy of the entire state and destroyed Maine's once-vaunted paper industry. Shredding Paper truthfully and transparently tells the great and grim story of blue-collar workers and their families and analyzes how paper workers formulated a "folk" version of capitalism's history in their industry. Ultimately, Hillard offers a telling example of the demise of big industry in the United States. Maine : the Detroit of Paper -- Maine : A Rags to Riches Story -- The Paradoxes of Paper Mill Employment : Skill, Stress, and Paternalism at S.D. Warren Company -- The Fall of Mother Warren and the Turn in Maine Paper Industry Labor Relations -- Madawaska Rebellion : "French Power" and the 1971 Fraser Paper Strike -- Cutting Off the Canadians : The Maine Woodman's Association Strike of 1975 and the Evolution of Labor Domination in the Maine Woods -- Maine's Labor Relations Train Wreck : Fear and Loathing on the Low and High Roads -- The High Road Cometh : Jointness at Scott Paper -- Memory, Enterprise Consciousness, and Historical Perspective Among Maine's Paperworkers -- Epilogue : Paperworkers' Folk Political Economy versus Neoliberalism "From the early twentieth century until the 1960s, Maine was the nation's leading producer of paper, with companies like Great Northern Paper, Oxford Paper and S. D. Warren owning more than half of the state's land, running company towns, and dominating politics throughout the state. But by the 1980s, the workforce was less than a quarter of what it once was. In this book, Michael G. Hillard details what happened to destroy the industry"-- Provided by publisher