Fiberloid Company of Maine (also Fiberloid Company of Massachusetts, and Fiberloid Corporation, acquired by Monsanto in 1933)
In 1894 the Fiberloid Company of Maine (so-called since it was incorporated under Maine laws) was formed by Edwin F. Coffin to manufacture a nitrocellulose plastic material called Fiberloid. An earlier form of the company had existed since 1887, renting premises of the Lithoid Manufacturing Company. Production continued until 1904 when the Fiberloid manufacturing plant in Newburyport (Massachusetts) was completely destroyed by fire. A new complex was then built on 16 acres along the Chicopee River in Springfield, Massachusetts, and in 1911 the name of the company was changed to the Fiberloid Company of Massachusetts.
According to Keith Lauer and Julie Robinson:
"By 1914, Fiberloid had doubled its plant capacity and was said to have been responsible for one-quarter of the total cellulose nitrate production in the United States, a production output equal with that of the Celluloid Company. In 1916 the name was changed to Fiberloid Corporation. Throughout the 1920s, Fiberloid Corporation's reputation as a manufacturer of quality pyroxylin plastics continued to grow and production increased. The line of goods marketed including toiletware, cutlery handles, automobile curtains, toothbrushes, bathroom accessories, fountain pens, golf club faces, advertising novelties, jewelry, imitation leather, and cuffs and collars. By 1930 the Indian Orchard facility consisted of 40 buildings, all protected against fire by their own fire department, with three inexhaustible water supplies. A cafeteria and emergency hospital were also located on the grounds."
Fiberloid was known for its production of cuffs and collars, marketed under the trade names Champion Waterproof and Litholin.
In 1933 the Monsanto Chemical Company of St. Louis purchased 14% interest in the company and five years later completely absorbed the company; in 1938 Fiberloid became the Plastic Division of Monsanto.
See: Keith Lauer and Julie Robinson, "The History of Celluloid," first published in 1999 and now online at http://www.plastics.com/content/articles/1/1/The-History-of-Celluloid.
