High School Seniors Model Confil Paper Dresses (1970)

International Paper made a concerted effort after 1950 to establish itself as a valued member of the Corinth community. Besides the Company's broad economic impact as the community's largest employer, grants made by the IP Foundation and the Company's generous financial and material support for EMBA-sponsored activities were equally important in forging stronger bonds between the Mill and the community. Yet in the three decades after World War II, International Paper's public relations efforts expanded its influence within Corinth in more subtle ways.

The Company made substantial efforts to increase community understanding of its operations at the Hudson River Mill through a series of carefully planned open houses. Public tours of the Mill were being offered twice daily by 1960, but select groups Corinth citizens were invited to tour the Hudson River Mill during specially designated days. Among these were Clergy Day, Ladies Day, Senior Citizens Day, and Business Owner's Day. These groups toured the mill during these events, enjoyed refreshments and lunch in the Community Building, were given IP keepsakes to take home, and finally posed for an EMBA News photograph as the day ended.

Ladies Day Crowd (1965)

The first Ladies Day held in October 1963 attracted 275 women. The Company's rationale for hosting a special day for women was printed in the EMBA News and explained that by "knowing the importance of the job to the whole makes for a better understanding on the part of the wife when a husband is called to work, why he should be in the best physical and mental condition to do his best work." Ladies Day became an annual event that was held throughout the 1960's.

International Paper's public relations in the 1960's extended from the Hudson River Mill to the community in other ways. An extensive Company exhibit was installed at the former Post Office building on Main Street during National Paper Week in 1965, and a similar offering appeared in the Village Hall in 1970 during the celebration of the 100th anniversary of papermaking in Corinth. These installations effectively reminded visitors of the Company's history in Corinth and the significant contributions that International Paper had made to the greater community.

IP's Public Relations Photo (1965)

By 1950 International Paper was best known for the production of newsprint, high quality coated papers, and converted paper products, like grocery bags, milk cartons, and shipping containers. By 1960, however, IP began to diversity and manufacture innovative wood and paper based products. Corinthians first learned about IP's newest products in the EMBA News where press release information and photographs sent by International Paper's New York-based public relations office to editor George Holland were published.

Mosher's Hardware Store With "WE USE" Sign (1964)

Among these new products was TYREX, a wood-based cellulose yarn used in the production of automobile tires; the paper base for "Cadillac Vinyl," a new strippable wallpaper; Garbax, a garbage system that featured a disposable paper bag; and Confil, a non-woven paper fabric used to make disposable clothing.

The EMBA News, which by this time was nearly fully-funded by the Company, published promotional photographs that showed Hudson River Mill employees and citizens of the town posing with these new products. One series that was related to a campaign to encourage Corinth businesses to use IP-manufactured bags - an idea that actually had its genesis within the leadership of the local labor unions - also included the production of a sign "WE USE International Paper Company Bags" that affirmed a business's participation in the program.

These public relations efforts were designed to increase community understanding of Company operations and, as editor Holland explained in a 1966 issue of the EMBA News, also advocate the use of IP products within the community. Photographs were particularly effective in promoting the idea that the Company and the community were working together towards common goals.

A pine tree with a waterfall in the background - representing wood and water power as the two natural resources essential to paper production - served as the symbol of the International Paper Company almost from its inception. Used widely throughout the Company, in Corinth the corporate symbol was printed on the tee- shirts worn by boys participating on organized EMBA teams, and it was even reproduced by Raoul Granger in a large twelve-foot tall painting that hung for 30 years on the south wall of the Community Building gym. The symbol also appeared for many years on Hudson River Mill envelopes and letterhead.

Sisters With IP Trash Barrel (n.d.)

The pine tree trademark was replaced in 1960 with a modern logo, a development that was an expression of International Paper's effort to become a more modern company. Photographs that appeared in the EMBA News after 1960 are particularly revealing of the ways that International Paper used the new symbol to refine its corporate image, and how it redirected its public relations efforts to promote new corporate and community objectives.

The new IP logo replaced a "Litterbug" image that had been used on recycled industrial barrels supplied by the Company to the Village of Corinth to serve as trash containers. The new trash barrels were emblazoned with the new symbol and were placed throughout the community. Similar containers, intended to serve instead as rain collectors during a 1965 drought, also displayed the new logo. Citizens received a rain barrel with the IP logo for home use after making a small donation to the Corinth Free Library.

"Corinth Night" at the Saratoga Raceway was an annual event where Corinthians could enjoy dinner in the track's clubhouse as they cheered the winner of a special race sponsored by the Corinth Rotary Club. This event provided yet another opportunity for IP logo placement as the new corporate symbol was placed on the victory blanket given to the winning horse. A close examination of the photograph taken after the 1962 race, however, shows that only the new IP logo was actually printed on the blanket, and that the words "International Paper" were later hand-written on the negative before it was printed in the EMBA News. It appears that the editor of the News believed that readers needed to see more than the logo to understand who helped sponsored the race.

Ladies Day Guests With Giftas (n.d.)

Other public relations materials distributed from the Hudson River Mill and made from IP paper - automobile floor mats, winter windshield protectors, bathtub mats, and table placemats - were regularly and freely distributed to employees, Hudson River Mill guests, and local citizens, ultimately making their way into hundreds of Corinth homes. International Paper paraphernalia and its corporate symbol had become ubiquitous throughout the community by the end of the 1960's.