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When DuPont chemists found a way to make the film product moisture proof, they opened the door to a revolution in packaging, and the Old Hickory cellophane plant was a direct out growth of this achievement.

Cellophane's slogan well described its value to shoppers:  "Shows What it Protects - Protects What it Shows."  In the "old days," grocery shopers had required the aid of a clerk in choosing their goods, in what was known as the "crackerbarrel era" of shopping.  With the advent of cellophane, buyers could view the products for themselves, and the product was given much of the credit for the evolvement of supermarket shopping that is so popular today.

The first piece of cellophane rolled off the number one casting machine at Old Hickory in September 1929, five years after the material was first made in Buffalo.  For many years its uses multiplied and demand grew steadily, reaching a peak production level at Old Hickory of 63 million pounds in 1957.  This high production level was aided by many process improvements, new equipment, adoption of new methods and improved customer service.

When the cellophane plant began operations, many employees moved to the new plant from rayon.  For 21 years the two Old Hickory facilities were members of the same department, and shared many services such as the time office, employment, stores, and maintenance shops.  However, this method of operation came to be used less and less and the services were completely separated in 1950 with the formation of the Film Department.  From then until plant closing, only power services were supplied to Film by Textile Fibers.

The cellophane plant shut down in 1964, almost simultaneously with the startup of new facilities here for manufacturing "Corfam" poromeric material.  A second product, "Reemay," was only months away from initial production.  With these plants, in addition to the "Dacron" facility at Old Hickory, many employees were able to continue their careers on new products.  Others elected to retire.  A third group was laid off from work, but after a short period most returned to work on one of the new products.