CHAMPION PAPER COMPANY MEDALS

Champion Paper, in small town Canton, has always been the heartbeat of that tight-knit Western North Carolina community. The company saw unparalleled growth from the early 1900’s well into the latter half of the twentieth century. At the helm was the founder’s son-in-law, Reuben B. Robertson.

Robertson had been brought on to temporarily oversee operations in 1907 and ended up staying with the company for an impressive 65 years. Under his watch satellite mills were opened, innovations to manufacturing methods were developed, and overall reach was expanded internationally.

Champion Paper employed a team of chemical engineers and in the 1920’s they pioneered a process to make fine white paper from the pine trees that were so plentiful in the forests of Western North Carolina. Within two decades nearly a third of all U.S. long-fiber pulp would come from native pine. Methods of bleaching spent wood and making high quality paper also originated with this dynamic and innovative little company.

CHAMPION GOES TO WAR
Robertson saw to it that a medal was created for each soldier called into military duty. This medal was presented to the family just before a soldier’s departure. On the obverse was the majestic Crusading Knight that had been the company’s trademark for so many years. On the reverse was found the soldier’s name below a four-leaf clover, a declaration that he was A DEFENDER OF AMERICAN LIBERTY and the text CHAMPION WISHES FOR YOU THE BEST OF LUCK AND A SAFE RETURN. Despite the wish of a safe return, there were a dozen men from the Canton division that did not return home.

To read the complete article, see:
The Mid-Century Medals of a Small Town N.C. Paper Mill (www.coinzip.com/articlesPage.php?i=19)

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