Carton Sales history

Styrene was distilled from a balsam tree in 1831.

Vinyl Chloride discovered in 1835.

The history of paperboard packaging began as early as 1839 when Aaron L. Dennison, a Boston-based jeweler, began commercially producing rigid boxes for himself and other local jewelers.

Paper bags were first manufacture in England in 1844.

The process of extracting cellulose from wood pulp was developed in 1867.

In 1896, the paperboard packaging industry received a huge push forward when the National Biscuit Company introduced their Uneeda soda cracker.

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE) was patented in 1941.

Paul Bernard Shore and his brother Sam started Shorewood Press in New York City in 1948.

After the appearance of the Beatles' Abbey Road in 1968, the one-piece album jacket became the standard for the music industry.

In 1980, however, Shore responded to slowing sales growth by entering other consumer products packaging.

Shorewood acquired the CBS stake in its Canadian and British subsidiaries in 1985.

By 1986, when the firm went public, it also was producing packaging for several other industries, including videocassettes, foods, hosiery, tobacco, and cosmetics and toiletries.

The long-term debt was $14.8 million at the end of fiscal 1987.

In 1988 the company acquired another plant, in Andalusia, Alabama, with the purchase of Southeastern Box Corp.

Among "companies whose products have to be slick--with clean colors and interesting graphics--Shorewood has the edge," said an executive for the firm's largest shareholder in 1989, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Shorewood's sales came to a record $139.3 million and its net earnings amounted to a record $16.2 million in fiscal 1990.

The appointment of Shore's son Marc as president of the firm in 1991 was credited with the transition to a more aggressive growth strategy.

Another 1994 acquisition, Hemingway Packaging, put the parent company in a strong position in the production of cosmetic boxes.

Paul Shore died in December 1995 and was succeeded as chairman and chief executive officer of Shorewood Packaging by his son Marc.