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Made in America. Since 1949.

 

As you may have already seen, this week is #MadeInAmerica week!

As a family owned and operated company, we’re joining the rest of this nation’s manufacturers! Since 1949, the Hibard family has been manufacturing paper packaging products in Los Angeles.

We take pride in our products and are proud to say we make everything here in Los Angeles.

Here are a few of our most popular products:

  • Mailing Tubes
  • Poster Tubes
  • Paper Cores
  • Edge Protectors
  • Corner Protectors
  • Fiber Cans & Telescope Tubes
  • Concrete Form Tubes
  • Custom Paper Tubes
  • Litho Display Poles

Learn more about Spiral Paper Tube & Core’s history here:

 

#MadeInAmerica

Mailing Tubes, Poster Tubes, Shipping Tubes – Where do you order?

After numerous conversations with long-term, short-term and potential customers, we decided to launch an online store.

Just over four years ago, for the first time in our company’s history, we made ninety different tape and label cores available for purchase online. For customers who order by 11am, their orders ship that same day. Online customers even have the ability to choose between standard and expedited shipping.

3″ ID x .125″ Thick Tape & Label Cores

Throughout the United States, many customers transitioned from traditional, slower methods of ordering (email, fax, etc.) to online ordering. Online orders received by 11am ship via UPS that very same day. This is significantly quicker than our typical turnaround time of 10 business days and helps ensure our customers are able to process their orders faster.

E-Commerce is the Way of the Future

Like many businesses with e-commerce stores, we’re no different. E-commerce is the way of the future, and online ordering is here to stay. Just ask Amazon.

Consumers and customers want to receive their order pretty much as soon as the “Place Order” button is clicked.

Mailing Tubes, Shipping Tubes, Poster Tubes

We know our tape and label core customers prefer to order online so they can then process and ship their orders the following day. But what about mailing tubes, shipping tubes and poster tubes?

Where do you purchase your mailing tubes, shipping tubes or poster tubes?

If you use any of these products and are looking for an online retailer to make them available quicker than you’re currently able to find them, we would like to ask you to let us know. Our team is waiting to hear from you.

Comment below with the most common size(s) you use and we will take this into consideration as we move forward with our e-commerce store.

The 5 Most Common Paper Tubes

They say the average American uses 8 paper tubes a day…all without knowing it. Are you average? Above average? Below average?

If the “average” American uses 8 paper tubes, where are they?

How are they being used? Are they subconsciously using them? Do they realize it? Do you realize it?

Here are the 5 most common paper tubes:

  1. Toilet paper tube
  2. Paper towel tube
  3. Produce section plastic bags (wrapped around a tube)
  4. Tape (wrapped around a tube)
  5. Retail receipts (printed on paper wrapped around a paper tube)

Tomorrow, as you’re going about your daily routine, be on the lookout for paper tubes and discover how many spiral paper tubes you’re using.

The History of Spiral Paper Tube & Core – Los Angeles

After returning from World War II, George Hibard Sr., a Wisconsin native, set out to pursue his American dream when he started Spiral Paper Tube & Core in 1949.

A machinist by trade, and a USC Marshall School of Business student by night, Mr. Hibard designed, engineered and fabricated most of the machinery used to produce his first spiral paper tubes.

For the first 55 years, Spiral Paper Tube & Core was located at 8802 South Graham, Los Angeles, CA 90002.

George Hibard Jr., an inventor and economist, followed in the footsteps of his father and became President in the 1990s.

Within ten years, George had quickly increased the number of product lines to eight, including Edge Protectors, one of Spiral Paper Tube & Core’s most popular products.

In 2004, Spiral Paper Tube & Core moved its headquarters from South Los Angeles to its current location, 5200 Industry Avenue, Pico Rivera, CA 90660.

After 68 years in business, we continue to value quality, excellence, honesty and integrity. Our diverse product line is reaching farther and servicing more industries now than any time before.

Many of the employees that worked for Mr. Hibard are still with us today. And it is not uncommon for an old-time customer or vendor to call the office and share a few stories about the good ole days with the younger staff. We believe genuine connection best compliments our quality packaging products—it is our way of best serving you.

Over or Under? What’s the correct way to hang toilet paper?

The documented, correct way to place toilet paper onto the holder is in the “over” position.  The 1891 patent for the toilet paper roll states that the end of the roll should be hanging off the exterior:

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SETH WHEELER, of the city and county of Albany, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toilet-Paper Rolls; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention consists of a roll of connected sheets of paper for toilet use, said roll having incisions at intervals extending from the side of the web toward the center, but not meeting, and terminating in an angular out, whereby the slight connection left may be separated without injury to the connected sheets. A difficulty with rolls of this character as heretofore manufactured has been due to the width of the bond uniting the sheets, which it has been necessary to make of considerable strength to Withstand the tension of winding, but which it is desirable should be as trail as may be when the roll is unwound, otherwise the sheets do not separate with certainty and many of them are torn. Attempts have been made to remedy this by incision the bond that should not weaken it longitudinally; but such incisions avail little unless the sheets are pulled in a certain direction condition the user seldom considers or is aware of. In my improved roll I overcome this wholly by reducing the bond and terminating the lateral incisions in an angular cut, removing all liability of injury to the sheets in separating them. With this construction one sheet may be separated from the next without liability of the incisions turning in a direction parallel with the web and tearing off a considerable part of the contiguous sheet. At the same time I wind rolls containing any desired number of sheets.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of my roll of paper having arched and serrated incisions with a sheet hanging therefrom. Fig. 2 represents a detached sheet of paper.

The roll a is composed of many sheets like I), Fig. 2, of soft paper suitable for toilet use. These sheets are produced by arched serrated, incisions which extend from the edge of each sheet almost to the center, where the incisions terminate in an angular cut in the direction of the roll and the center line of the series of sheets, leaving a slight connection (Z, which serves to hold the sheets together. angular cut is to give the final tear, when the sheet is separated, a direction toward the center line of the series of sheets and prevent it taking a course parallel with it. The incisions are made sufficiently far apart to give a suitable sheet of paper for use. shown in Fig. 2.

The connection d, as shown in Fig. l, permits of the easy severance of a sheet of paper from a roll, which will be intact and no litter is occasioned by such severance.

The curved mode of dividing the sheets permits the end of a sheet to be found more readily, and the serrations aid materially in grasping the end of a sheet when not hanging from a roll; but I do not confine myself to this construction, as it is obvious that an angular termination may be given to incisions that are neither curved nor serrated.

I claim A roll of paper partially divided into sheets by lateral incisions extending from the sides of the web toward the center of the sheets, each sheet being connected to the next one by a /\-shaped tongue, substantially as described.

Zeynep Yenisey, in recent article “What the direction of your toilet paper hangs says about you, according to science” states the following:

“In the Toilet Paper Personality Test, 2000 people were surveyed on which way they roll their toilet paper, and on how assertive they are in their relationships on a scale of 1 to 10.

The results revealed that those “who roll over are more dominant than those who roll under,” meaning they have a Type-A personality. Under-rollers are the opposite, being a member of the more submissive and laid-back niche.

Sorry under-rollers, but you’re probably not going to rule to world any time soon.”

 

It’s back to school…with paper tubes!

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Students across the country are gearing up to head back to school. The excitement of finding out who their new teacher is and if their friends are in their class is building.

And, like the year before, parents are accepting the task of hunting down everything on the new school supply list.

Parents and teachers alike use toilet paper tubes, paper towel tubes, and wrapping paper tubes to create inexpensive crafts, and keep goodies like pencils, markers, and glue sticks organized.

To celebrate a fresh, new school year, we’re highlighting our top 12 favorite tube-centered crafts! Click the image to learn more about the crafter, kid, or blogger!

We hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

11.cardboard_tube_candy_holder

10. cardboard_tube_executive_student

9. cardboard_tube_flower_holder

8. cardboard_tube_giant_pencils

7. cardboard_tube_giraffe

6. cardboard_tube_jelly_fish

5. cardboard_tube_pencil holder

4. cardboard_tube_pencil_holder

3. cardboard_tube_rocket

2. cardboard_tube_spooky_halloween_bats

1.cardboard_tube_superman

 

Think You Have Tube Knowledge?

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Paper Tubes. It’s what we do.

Last year, we set out to educate as many people as possible by launching our Knowledge Base.

We had noticed that many of our clients, packaging distributors, curious minds, builders, crafters, retail shop owners, tape and label makers, printers, freight companies, artists, architects, poster companies, etc. all seemed to be asking us the same questions.

Although paper tubes are structurally the same (they all look like a toilet paper tube, with a twirling seam), they’re used in a variety of applications. And depending on how the paper tube was being used, we were able to predict what questions might be asked by somebody in that field.

For that reason, we created our Knowledge Base – a collection of paper tube-specific articles, Q&As, and other helpful information.

For example, an artist who designs and ships custom posters on Etsy will have questions specifically related to packing and shipping poster tubes.

 

3 Common Mailing Tube Questions:

  1. When both plastic end plugs are inserted, how much does each Mailing Tube weigh?
  2. What size Mailing Tube should I use for my poster?
  3. What’s the difference between “overall length” and “outside diameter” and “inside length” and “inside diameter?”

 

Another example is a tape or label manufacturer. Instead of using a plain kraft brown paper core, they may want their company logo printed on the inside. Their product will be wrapped around the outside of the paper core, leaving valuable real estate on the inside. Their questions about printing will be completely different than the artist selling posters on Etsy.

 

4 Common Printing Questions:

  1. Can you print our logo in a specific color?
  2. What’s the difference between Pantone colors and GCMI colors?
  3. Will our ink color look best on kraft brown paper or flat white paper?
  4. What file type and size do we need to send?

 

These questions are just two examples of the types of questions we regularly receive. If you’d like to learn more about paper tubes, take a stroll around our Knowledge Base.

You may already be familiar with many of the Knowledge Base topics. But then again, you may walk away with a greater understanding of paper tubes.

Explore our Knowledge Base and increase your tube knowledge today!

See our Edge Protectors in action!

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We toured a major retailer on a recent visit to Washington state. We spotted our Edge Protectors in action and wanted to show you a few different ways they’re used.

The Edge Protectors in these photos have white paper on the outside (top) and kraft paper on the inside (less visible side).

If you look closely, you can see that some pieces seem to have multiple layers – this is an indication of a thicker piece.

In some photos, the Edge Protectors are being used to protect the product and primary packaging. In others, they’re being used to increase column strength.

Can you tell the difference?

clamato_spiral_paper_tube  every_day_napkins_edge_protectors_spiral_paper_tube lifesavers_edge_protectors_spiral_paper_tube protein_bar_edge_protectors_spiral_paper_tube pub_mix_edge_protectors_spiral_paper_tube san_francicoso_bay_edge_protectors_spiral_paper_tube ziploc_edge_protectors_spiral_paper_tube

 

Have a question about Edge Protectors? We’d love to hear from you! Contact us anytime.

The average American uses 8 paper tubes a day…all without knowing.

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Admit it.

You’ve hit at least one unsuspecting person with a wrapping paper tube at least once in your life.

Probably more.

Did you know the average American uses 8 paper tubes a day…all without knowing? It’s true. All of us here at Spiral Paper Tube dedicate our lives to making products most will never think twice about. Let alone think once about.

Our most popular tubes and cores are hidden in plain sight.

They’re inside holiday wrapping paper, rolls of toilet paper, kitchen paper towels and Scotch tape. Most consumers don’t set out to buy our paper tubes and paper cores directly, so their interaction with our product goes something like this:

  • use all of the wrapping paper, toilet paper, paper towels, or Scotch tape
  • throw paper tube in recycle bin
  • the end

If you’re a parent of small children, or a teacher, it might go something more like this:

  • ask others to intentionally use up all of their wrapping paper, toilet paper, paper towels, or Scotch tape
  • collect their paper tubes and cores
  • use scissors, glue, glitter, construction paper, yarn, paint, and popsicle sticks to make crafts
  • the end

As you can see, parents, kids, teachers and students are having a bit more fun with our products than the average consumer. For this reason, we want to have a little fun this next month.

This summer, we want to see your crafts and inventions!

When you, your kids, or your students create something with a paper tube, post it on our Facebook Page or use #ilovetubes when you post it on Twitter or Instagram!

And for those that may not be too crafty, if you spot a paper tube or paper core in a retail shop, on the street, at a post office, etc. you can join in also!

With your help, we can bring those 8 paper tubes a day into the spotlight and remind America just how fun paper tubes can be!

Paper Caps: The Teenager of All End Closures

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They’re so cute when they’re babies. Then we get to dress them up like dolls when they first start school. But then they become teenagers, and the cuteness we once knew somehow disappears.

We still love them, but they’re challenging, in ways we probably never really expected. Over time though, we discover new gems in these young adults and we learn to love and care for them in ways we never imagined.

Paper caps are like teenagers.

Read more…