Southern Champion Tray: The Early Years
Southern Champion Tray Company was incorporated on March 7, 1927, as a Delaware Corporation with The Champion No-Leak Paper Dish Company of Toledo, Ohio as the parent company. George A. Vradenburg was the president of both organizations. In 1922 Milton Zeiser joined Mr. Vradenburg as an employee near his twentieth birthday having left Menominee, Michigan following his father's early death. Milt soon became a key employee and friend of the Vradenburg family and was sent from Toledo to Chattanooga to start the southern division in 1927. In 1930 Milt was called back to Toledo to work on the development of the paper milk carton. When the depression caused the banks to close in 1933, Milt returned to Chattanooga and managed the plant until 1936, then went back to Toledo again. The parent company was sold to Sutherland Paper Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Milt went with the equipment to Sutherland where he was in charge of the machine shop from 1937 until 1947. During this time, Milt was instrumental in changing the traditional method of fastening food trays. Due to the shortage of wire during the war, Milt converted the tray machines from stapled to glued end flaps which are the standard today.
Meanwhile, Southern Champion Tray Company and its four employees were struggling for survival. Between Mr. Vradenburg's desire to see Milt return to Southern Champion and the financial assistance of Dr. J. Tom Currey and Max Finley, the opportunity was made available for Milt to return to Chattanooga and purchase Southern Champion. Milt Zeiser became the majority stockholder and President on July 1, 1947. The growth that started that day has continued steadily to the present. In many ways, it could be said that Southern Champion's roots are in the machine shop. This was Milt's love and background, and he used his skills in machining and mechanical design to build and modify machinery in such a way as to create a technological advantage over traditional carton manufacturing practices.
Not long before Milt's arrival in Chattanooga, the plant was moved from its location within the Tennessee Paper Mills complex to 18 Market Street. It was a three story brick building which overlooked the Tennessee River. The plant occupied the second and third floors. Milt found himself with the challenge of paying off the indebtedness of the company. Paperboard food trays were the only products manufactured at that time. Milt's son, Chuck, recalls that as an 11 year old, he had the "privilege" of cleaning up paper chips from around the machines and cleaning the bathrooms. This was a barebones operation with no frills. Milt's desk was located at the head of the stairs, and when a long distance call was received they often had to shut the machines down in order to hear. Invoices and letters were typed at home. Chuck's recollection is that the normal workweek was six days a week of 12 to 16 hour days.
It wasn't long before an office was added and the beginnings of a laundry shell machine were being built. In those days laundered shirts weren't hung on hangers but folded and placed in a chipboard sleeve and then overwrapped. This machine marked the beginning of Southern Champion's expansion beyond the tray line. In 1951 the plant was moved to the old Milne Chair Company building in Chattanooga and occupied two floors of one wing of this large factory. This move came about when Tennessee Paper Mills purchased this property and the additional space allowed for continued growth.
In 1954 an old Perry Sheet Fed Laminator was added and the company was busily supplying greaseproof paper laminated to paperboard for Rock City Packaging and their plants that manufactured cartons for the cookie industry. This laminator was replaced by a larger roll fed machine developed by Milt Zeiser and made from discarded paper mill equipment. That installation proved to be a major growth area until the industry changed to poly coated board some years later. In 1956 the first new piece of equipment was purchased - a 36" x 36" Mercury Cutter Creaser. This equipment started operation on January 2, 1957, and was the primary production line for shirt boards and eventually stock bakery boxes. The Mercury was designed for long runs and was modified in-house to make it practical for our short run type of business. It was unheard of in the industry for a press of this type to be used for short run work as we did in those years. It served us well until its retirement in June of 1999.
1956 saw the first web fed collar support machine, designed and built by Mr. Zeiser, go into production. This equipment was revolutionary in the converting industry and soon the plant was producing millions of shirt boards and collar strips for the new shirt industry. In 1957 Milt designed a scrap removal system for the web-fed cutter. Only in recent years have the manufacturers of this equipment developed a more efficient system of scrap removal. A stock line of bakery boxes was added in 1957 and this created the need for a two-shift operation. Marketing of these products was handled through Allied Paper Products, a sales organization that was part of Rock City Packaging, which later merged with Tennessee Paper Mills to become Rock-Tenn Company.
Early in 1958 the company moved into a 60,000 square foot building on Compress Street directly across from Tennessee Paper Mills. The second collar support machine was added during that year. Southern Champion welcomed the second generation of the Zeiser family when Chuck Zeiser joined the firm full time in 1958 having spent most of his summers working in the plant. A tour with the U.S. Air Force took him away from the plant for a brief period in the early 1960's and then he returned to Chattanooga.
Southern Champion Tray Company was incorporated on March 7, 1927, as a Delaware Corporation with The Champion No-Leak Paper Dish Company of Toledo, Ohio as the parent company. George A. Vradenburg was the president of both organizations. In 1922 Milton Zeiser joined Mr. Vradenburg as an employee near his twentieth birthday having left Menominee, Michigan following his father's early death. Milt soon became a key employee and friend of the Vradenburg family and was sent from Toledo to Chattanooga to start the southern division in 1927. In 1930 Milt was called back to Toledo to work on the development of the paper milk carton. When the depression caused the banks to close in 1933, Milt returned to Chattanooga and managed the plant until 1936, then went back to Toledo again. The parent company was sold to Sutherland Paper Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Milt went with the equipment to Sutherland where he was in charge of the machine shop from 1937 until 1947. During this time, Milt was instrumental in changing the traditional method of fastening food trays. Due to the shortage of wire during the war, Milt converted the tray machines from stapled to glued end flaps which are the standard today.
Meanwhile, Southern Champion Tray Company and its four employees were struggling for survival. Between Mr. Vradenburg's desire to see Milt return to Southern Champion and the financial assistance of Dr. J. Tom Currey and Max Finley, the opportunity was made available for Milt to return to Chattanooga and purchase Southern Champion. Milt Zeiser became the majority stockholder and President on July 1, 1947. The growth that started that day has continued steadily to the present. In many ways, it could be said that Southern Champion's roots are in the machine shop. This was Milt's love and background, and he used his skills in machining and mechanical design to build and modify machinery in such a way as to create a technological advantage over traditional carton manufacturing practices.
Not long before Milt's arrival in Chattanooga, the plant was moved from its location within the Tennessee Paper Mills complex to 18 Market Street. It was a three story brick building which overlooked the Tennessee River. The plant occupied the second and third floors. Milt found himself with the challenge of paying off the indebtedness of the company. Paperboard food trays were the only products manufactured at that time. Milt's son, Chuck, recalls that as an 11 year old, he had the "privilege" of cleaning up paper chips from around the machines and cleaning the bathrooms. This was a barebones operation with no frills. Milt's desk was located at the head of the stairs, and when a long distance call was received they often had to shut the machines down in order to hear. Invoices and letters were typed at home. Chuck's recollection is that the normal workweek was six days a week of 12 to 16 hour days.
It wasn't long before an office was added and the beginnings of a laundry shell machine were being built. In those days laundered shirts weren't hung on hangers but folded and placed in a chipboard sleeve and then overwrapped. This machine marked the beginning of Southern Champion's expansion beyond the tray line. In 1951 the plant was moved to the old Milne Chair Company building in Chattanooga and occupied two floors of one wing of this large factory. This move came about when Tennessee Paper Mills purchased this property and the additional space allowed for continued growth.
In 1954 an old Perry Sheet Fed Laminator was added and the company was busily supplying greaseproof paper laminated to paperboard for Rock City Packaging and their plants that manufactured cartons for the cookie industry. This laminator was replaced by a larger roll fed machine developed by Milt Zeiser and made from discarded paper mill equipment. That installation proved to be a major growth area until the industry changed to poly coated board some years later. In 1956 the first new piece of equipment was purchased - a 36" x 36" Mercury Cutter Creaser. This equipment started operation on January 2, 1957, and was the primary production line for shirt boards and eventually stock bakery boxes. The Mercury was designed for long runs and was modified in-house to make it practical for our short run type of business. It was unheard of in the industry for a press of this type to be used for short run work as we did in those years. It served us well until its retirement in June of 1999.
1956 saw the first web fed collar support machine, designed and built by Mr. Zeiser, go into production. This equipment was revolutionary in the converting industry and soon the plant was producing millions of shirt boards and collar strips for the new shirt industry. In 1957 Milt designed a scrap removal system for the web-fed cutter. Only in recent years have the manufacturers of this equipment developed a more efficient system of scrap removal. A stock line of bakery boxes was added in 1957 and this created the need for a two-shift operation. Marketing of these products was handled through Allied Paper Products, a sales organization that was part of Rock City Packaging, which later merged with Tennessee Paper Mills to become Rock-Tenn Company.
Early in 1958 the company moved into a 60,000 square foot building on Compress Street directly across from Tennessee Paper Mills. The second collar support machine was added during that year. Southern Champion welcomed the second generation of the Zeiser family when Chuck Zeiser joined the firm full time in 1958 having spent most of his summers working in the plant. A tour with the U.S. Air Force took him away from the plant for a brief period in the early 1960's and then he returned to Chattanooga.
