History |
The following history is based on the text in my book A Field Guide to American Residential Doors, pp. 206-207.
The Paine Lumber Company was the undisputed leader of door manufacturing in the nation in the first third of the twentieth century. Edward L. Paine founded the company the same year that Oshkosh was founded (1853). Although the fledgling city already had twelve sawmills, the Paine mill was the first to use a circular saw in Oshkosh, soon to be dubbed "Sawdust City." Oshkosh was the leading local producer of doors and windows by 1871. Paine constructed a new mill in 1884 and produced 600 doors on its first day in the millwork business. Four years later, Paine introduced the double band saw, which had a narrower kerf than the circular saw and created less sawdust. In 1891, Paine printed its first millwork catalog, a 325-page publication that was re-issued and updated in 1893. With the Wisconsin pine forest gradually receding, Paine began experimenting with veneered doors in the mid-1890s. Its employees improved dowel doors and also developed an interlocking veneered door named Korelock in 1898. The interlocking interior was improved with the Klimax door in 1908.
At some point in the very early twentieth century, Paine changed its overall business plan. Its 1891 catalog featured 1,456 individual products in an array of sizes; the catalog's 46 different windows came in a total of 1,491 shapes and sizes. Rather than compete with the multitude of other millwork companies and continue to offer thousands of different products, Paine reduced its range of products, increased the production of its line, and stocked local distributors nationwide with millwork. It was able to remain profitable by selling rail cars full of doors and shingles that were shipped to distributors. In undercutting the prices asked by its competitors, Paine's millwork became the default option for builders nationwide. Paine's Miracle Door, introduced in 1922, immediately became the most popular interior door due to its light weight and its potential use as a mirror door. Door production in Paine's Oshkosh plant remained high, and in 1927 the company set the record for the number of doors produced in a single day (20,676). The Depression delivered a massive blow to Paine. Its distributors were unable to sell existing Paine stock and stopped placing new orders. The company closed its plants and laid off all workers.
Soon thereafter, however, Nathan Paine encountered hollow core doors while on a luxury cruise. He made an agreement with the French inventor of these hollow core doors, and the Paine factory opened again to produce hollow core "Rezo" doors. These doors soon became the dominant interior door in residential construction and breathed new life into the company. In 1959, the General Plywood Corporation purchased the Paine Lumber Company and brought it under its umbrella of millwork companies; accompanying this change was the unionization of the employees, which the Paine family had successfully forbidden. The final years of Paine represented an ongoing futile effort to keep the Oshkosh plant open. General Plywood struggled to make a profit off the plant and decided to close it in 1971 (Oshkosh Northwestern, 3/24/1983). Paine's employees pooled their money, purchased Paine from General Plywood, and operated the plant from 1972 to 1979. A partnership purchased Paine in 1979, but the company failed again in 1983 (Oshkosh Northwestern, 3/23/2003).
Millwork catalogs at archive.org:
1891,
1893,
Korelock Doors 1909,
Miracle Doors 1924,
Paine Flush Doors 1955,
Paine Flush Doors 1960 |