The paper collar industry started during the Civil War when the South’s control of cotton cut off the supply of cloth collars, according to a 1956 Crimson article. People wore the paper collar a few times, and threw it away. The Reversible Collar Company was invented by Harvard alumnus in 1866, and the business hit its peak between 1870 and 1914. During the time, the production was about 3,000,000 items monthly. Many people preferred the substitute and continued to wear them after the Civil War
The Reversible Collar Company Building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The fact that the last surviving Paper Collar Company was located in 111 Putnam Avenue, Cambridge makes the city more unique.
**Generously researched and written by E. Bento.**
[…] Cambridge Public Library was my last internship library and the first public library where I had soe great library expereince. Under the Archivist, Alyssa Pacy, I processed the record of the Cambridge Public Library and also, developed a few blog posts. […]