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America’s Preferred Poster Tube Manufacturer

Since 1949, we’ve been making poster tubes here in Los Angeles. Hollywood is just a few miles away. Each time a new movie is released, movie posters are printed and need to be shipped around the country.

The best way to ship a movie poster is rolled up and inside a poster tube.

Movie posters are often seen in windows, on bus benches, and inside movie theaters.

The most common inside diameter for poster tubes is 2″, but larger posters often fit better in 3″ diameter poster tubes.

Need poster tubes? Please let us know how we can help you.

When choosing a paper tube, be sure to consider the End Closure

Getting a product to market, or planning how best to ship it, is quite a feat. There’s a million details that need to be considered.

A brown cardboard box is simple and economical. Think about all of your amazon.com orders. How do they arrive? In a brown cardboard box with an Amazon logo. It gets the job done. But does it leave a lasting impression? No.

When you order a rare print or poster, and it arrives in a poster tube (not a box), but default, it’s exciting. But why?

It’s different. It’s not a box. It’s round.

Round packaging is less common, so it feels exciting.

A “paper tube” becomes a “poster tube” when two things happen: first, when you insert a poster. And second, when you insert end closures.

Friction-fit plastic end plugs are used with poster tubes for a variety of reasons. Plastic end plugs are light and help keep shipping costs low.

The ribbed, friction fit helps the packer and end user easily remove and replace them. And lastly, they’re available in different colors.

For more information on our end closures, visit our product page.

Mailing Tubes and Shipping Tubes. Made in America.

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chains and supply lines are being interrupted like never before.

The American shipping and packaging industry is no different.

We manufacture shipping tubes, mailing tubes, and poster tubes in Los Angeles and ship LTL and small packages nationwide.

Our spiral paper tubes are made with recycled paper (mostly old cardboard boxes) and are the preferred way to ship posters, artwork, and various components that are too long to ship inside a cardboard box.

Click here to learn more about our mailing tubes or to request custom pricing.

Made in the USA

Since our first paper tube came off the line in 1949, we’ve been in Los Angeles, California.

Now, more than ever, we’re proud to manufacture paper tubes and edge protectors in our own backyard. For the past few months, supply chains around the world have been affected, disrupted, and, for some, have come to a screeching halt.

If your supply chain has been disrupted, and you’re looking for an alternate source for Mailing Tubes, Paper Cores, Edge Protectors, Fiber Cans & Telescope Tubes, Concrete Form Tubes, Specialty/Custom Paper Tubes, Litho Display Poles, or Small Paper Tubes, we’re here to help.

Call us anytime with the inside diameter, outside diameter, usable length, overall length, thickness, and any other details, and we’ll get you going.

Don’t have the specs? No worries. Send us a sample of what you’re currently using – we’ll measure the sample and duplicate it.

We’re here for you.

You Won’t Find Custom Poster Tubes at Your Local Office Supply Shop – Part 1

Color: Kraft aka Brown

End Closure: White plastic plug

 

Local office supply stores stock some of the common poster tubes – 2″ inside diameter x 24″ usable length, 2″ inside diameter x 36″ usable length, 2″ inside diameter x 48″ usable length and 3″ inside diameter x 24″ usable length, 3″ inside diameter x 36″ usable length, 3″ inside diameter x 48″ usable length.

For some, these sizes are sufficient. But many are left wondering where they can find a custom poster tube with something besides kraft brown or matte white outside wrap.

If you’re finding yourself in the latter group, this blog is for you. Here are a few pictures of some customer poster tubes we make. You’ll notice that most of these poster tubes have white plastic end plugs – white plastic plugs are the cheapest, lightest, most common way to secure the ends of a poster tube. These plastic plugs are available from 1 inch to 12 inches.

Custom Pantone color end plugs are available in quantities of 50,000 – 100,000.

 

Color: Matte Black aka Flat Black

End Closure: White plastic plug

Color: Glossy Red

End Closure: White plastic plug

Color: Glossy Yellow

End Closure: White plastic plug

 

Color: Glossy Black

End Closure: White plastic plug

 

Color: Kraft aka Brown

End Closure: Crimped Ends aka Snap Seal

 

Crimped poster tubes or “snap sealed” poster tubes are an alternative to “open end” poster tubes with plastic end plugs. Because glossy paper is much thinner than kraft brown paper, it tends to tear or rip when crimped, so crimped posters tubes are usually ordinary kraft brown, though sometimes matte white or matte black.

Crimped poster tubes don’t require plastic end plugs, but they do require a little more labor. Open end poster tubes are manufactured and ready to go. Crimped end poster tubes are manufactured, then sent to get crimped. Because of the additional step, the lead time or turnaround time for this type of poster tube is a little longer.

A great way to brand crimped end poster tubes and increase product visibility is to add a one color print (like a rubber stamp). To see examples of custom printed poster tubes and crimped end poster tubes, stay tuned for Part 2 of You Won’t Find Custom Poster Tubes at Your Local Office Supply Shop. 

 

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.

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!

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…

Paper Tubes and Plastic Plugs Go Together Like Peanut Butter and Jelly

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Some things are just meant to be together…

What would peanut butter be without jelly? Who would Batman be without Robin? How lonely would salt feel without pepper?

Paper tubes are no different. Without friction-fit plastic plugs, banners, posters and prints would simply slide right out of our mailing and shipping tubes. An end closure is needed, and there are a few different ways to secure the ends of paper tubes. White plastic plugs are the go-to option.

Friction-fit plastic plugs are made with virgin plastic.

This is important because plastic plugs made with virgin content are stronger and more durable than plugs made with recycled material. It also ensures a clean, white looking plug. White plastic plugs made with highly recycled content are easily noticed because they appear spotted and “dirty.”

Plastic plugs have 2 prominent features:

  • pull tab
  • ribbed-sides

The pull tab allows the plastic plug to be easily removed while the ribbed sides push against the paper tube’s inside walls and help keep it in place. These two features, and economical pricing, make it the most commonly used end closure.