CRANE PAPER'S U.S. CURRENCY CONTRACT

1879: “W. Murray Crane wins a heated competition to make US currency paper.”

There are stories about how Crane won that coveted contract. Some are true; some apocryphal. One has W. Murray Crane locked in a downtown Washington, D.C., hotel room. The government placed a deadline — date and hour — by which time all interested manufacturers must submit their proposals with paper samples. Crane traveled to D.C., but a competitor locked Crane in his room to assure he missed the deadline. Crane made the deadline and won the contract.

In Dalton, odds and ends of the family wardrobe may have been looked upon as useless. In 1806 Crane wanted every scrap. Why women’s underwear? Crane assumed they would be made of the finer cotton. Why Granny’s nightie? Crane assumed it would be made of linen. Zenas made cotton paper for local and regional banks. In 1844 Crane developed a method to embed parallel silk threads into the banknote paper to dissuade counterfeiters.

By the time Murray Crane got to that hotel room in D.C., Crane Paper had a product that was a special blend of cotton and linen and gave the paper a unique “hand.” Remember the paper samples presented with the proposal? Crane paper had that distinct feel that everyone, from that day to this, associates with American money. Most probably that won the contract. It gives “rags to riches” a whole new meaning.

In 1879 Crane Paper Company secured its most illustrious customer — the United States government.

To read the complete article, see:
CONNECTIONS: How ladies undergarments secured Crane Paper the U.S. currency contract (https://theberkshireedge.com/connections-the-history-of-u-s-currency-paper-involves-an-escape-plan-and-womens-undergarments/)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web