Proudly Family Owned and Operated... for 125 years!
The Gilman Brothers Company
1897-
1900's
Our
Founder
1920s -
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s - 1990s
1997
Today
Our Story Begins...
The Gilman Brothers Company had its origins in New York City, where in 1897, Nathan Gilman established himself in the bedding business. From the start, the Company had direct ties to Connecticut for in Bozrahville (now Gilman) on the banks of the Yantic River stood the Bozrahville Manufacturing Company which supplied him with raw material. As one of the oldest manufacturing sites in New London County, the first large-scale manufacturing began here in 1814. Industrious and enterprising individuals were attracted to this site because of the river’s unique topography, and ample volume provided the water power to drive their machines.
In 1905, Nathan purchased the holdings of the Bozrahville Manufacturing Company. These early years were marked by countless calamities. The first was the loss of his brother and business partner, followed by two fires. The second fire completely ravaged his mill, and Nathan was badly burned trying to save what so many had labored for. Faced with a long hospitalization and what appeared to be economic failure, Nathan was driven by his unflinching desire to see his mill a success. With the help of his loving wife, friends, and business associates, a new mill rose from the ashes. It stands today as a symbol of good will, friendship, and Nathan’s courage and test of will.
Nathan Gilman (1879- 1978)
Our Founder
In the gay nineties, Nathan Gilman organized the Greater New York Bedding Company and began to produce mattresses. For several years he purchased "shoddy", the customary "filling" material for mattresses, from the Bozrahville Company of Bozrahville, Conn. As his purchases of the material increased, he became more and more interested in his source of supply, and after making several trips to Bozrahville, he purchased the Bozrahville Company including its water rights to three lakes and all the houses and properties in the northern section of the town of Bozrah. The site was one of the oldest in New England having been occupied before 1800 by a cotton spinning mill.
On taking possession of his new purchase, Mr. Gilman began tearing out old machinery and cleaning the factory to make way for new picking machinery to produce shoddy more economically. But within two weeks after launching operations fire destroyed the main building. Mr. Gilman eventually replaced the four-story building with a one-story plant about one-tenth the size of the original. Like a tasty filling for a hard tack sandwich came a few years of prosperity to be topped off with another disastrous fire which gutted the rebuilt plant.
Still undaunted by the ill fortune that had dogged his efforts in a business beset with fire hazards, Mr. Gilman entered into partnership with two of his brothers and called it The Gilman Brothers Company.
Excerpt from "The Gilman Brothers Co.," CONNECTICUT INDUSTRY, March 1941
1920s and 1930s -- Cotton Batting & Electric Power
During WWI, Gilman Brothers Company began to manufacture cotton batting, used for mattresses and cushions. The development of this product increased the volume of business for Gilman Brothers, for their original product, shoddy, was slowly diminishing in need.
Things looked rosy for the milling village until the power crisis arose. The town of Norwich had built, in 1922, a reservoir which lessoned the volume of water and subsequently slackened the rate of flow of the Yantic River, which lessened the power that could be derived from the use of the water wheel. Another factor hindering the consistent operation of the mill was the seasonal changes occurring in the water level of the river. If drought conditions prevailed in the summer, a drastic reduction in mill operation would result, so Nathan Gilman moved to solve this menacing problem by introducing electric power.
By the 1920’s, the mill’s production demands began to tax the available water resources. Mother Nature could no longer be relied upon, particularly in the summer months, and the mill was often shut down for lack of sufficient water. Nathan’s focus turned to seeking a new form of power to keep his machines humming…. Electricity.
Unable to get the neighboring utility, Eastern Connecticut Power Company, to extend electricity lines to such a “remote” part of the state, in 1921, he enlisted the help of two friends and neighbors active in state politics. Together they saw a bill through the state legislature and signed by the Governor granting a charter for the Bozrah Electric Company to sell electricity in Bozrah and Lebanon. Ambivalent partners, unsure of this new venture, bailed out and Nathan was left to go it alone. With the help of the City of Norwich and employees from the factory, 6 miles of electrical lines were eventually erected, and service began in 1926.
The Bozrah Light & Power Company, as it was later named, was nurtured along by its largest customer and at the same time provided Nathan with a reliable source of power. The utility continues to source the Bozrah / Lebanon communities, although in 1995 the Gilman family relinquished ownership.
From the early 1920s until 1931 the sales curve moved steadily upward. The Company was incorporated in September 1931 with Mr. Gilman as president and treasurer and his wife (Clara) as secretary. One year later when Lawrence Gilman finished college, he joined his father and later became vice president.
Then "depression blight" struck hard. Jobless and part-time workers and those who received substantial salary cuts reduced their purchases of furniture and mattresses in which Gilman cotton batting was used. Facing the situation with the same realism which had won over several previous reverses, the Gilman Brothers Company began experimenting to discover new uses for cotton batting.
Lawrence Gilman developed a fireproof batting for insulation purposes that withstood the blaze of a blow torch for several minutes, and at the end finally broke down without bursting into flames. It was discovered that one inch of cotton was equal to two inches of other insulation materials. Later it was determined that batting for this purpose would be better if stitched on to some type of cloth or glued to a moisture proof paper backing.
In line with these experiments, the company purchased a high-speed multiple stitching machine, set up a small experimental department, and in the process of working on insulation found that it could stitch muslin on batting and sell those pads to mattress manufacturers.
Excerpts from "The Gilman Brothers Co.," CONNECTICUT INDUSTRY, March 1941; "History of Gilman, Connecticut," by Neil Gilman, June 1972; and "Gilman Glimpses", Vol. I, No. 2, Jan. 1973.
In the 1940s...
In the 1940s, Gilman Brothers' experimentation led to new ways to use cotton batting, and high-speed multiple stitching machines were installed to produce U.S. Army comforters. By the end of W.W.II, the plant had produced nearly three-quarters of a million comforters for the U.S. Army. Hoping to maintain some of the momentum into the post war years, they surged ahead in developing asphalt paper backed, flameproof cotton insulation. The product was readily accepted by the building field and the company had to equip another plant in Stafford Springs to meet the orders.
At the close of the 1940s, Gilman Brothers CELLULITE was approved for use in residential properties. By 1949 the nation's foremost builder of homes, William Levitt & Sons, was installing CELLULITE in their famous Ranch House. Every home – thousands and thousands of them – was insulated with CELLULITE, America's finest Cotton insulation! Levitt chose CELLULITE above all others because CELLULITE gave homeowners so much more for their money. CELLULITE was up to 36% more energy efficient than ten other insulating materials tested by the U.S. Government, as well as permanently flameproof and vermin proof.
Charles Gilman (1921 - 2017)
In the 1950s...
At the start of the 1950s Gilman Brothers introduced CELLULINER, a protective cushioning material for interior packaging. Independent laboratory testing proved CELLULINER'S "compressive resilience".
CELLULINER was offered to the Army, Navy and Air Force in 1951, and orders from the Services and from Military Contractors ran into the millions of feet. Applications covered a wide range, from packing delicate equipment for parachute drops to preservative packs for overseas shipment and storage.
Government price supports for cotton eventually ceased and made this commodity too high priced for an increasingly competitive market. A search began for an entirely new product to diversify the manufacturing operation. In a bold move, the plant was eventually retooled to produce something completely different… Plastic. Nathan’s sons Lawrence, Charles, and Seymour realized the vast potential the field of plastics offered, and they learned the business from the ground up.
The first product produced was a rigid high-impact polystyrene sheet. It was further processed by either vacuum or thermo forming to produce toys and packaging products. Around the same time, the Company began looking at other forms of styrene plastic to be used in the building insulation market. Molds to produce expanded polystyrene foam blocks or billets were purchased. The blocks were cut by hot wire or saws and sold as insulation, ceiling tiles, packaging material, and flotation.
Gilman Brothers quickly became an industry leader in the vacuum forming industry with the introduction of the Gilco® High-Impact Polystyrene Sheet. Though completely usable for conventional fabricating methods, the Gilco High-Impact Sheet enabled the manufacturers to take full advantage of the manifold economies of the vacuum-forming process for which it was especially designed, offering lower die costs, greater printability, closer tolerances, and greater depth of draw than its competition.
In the 1960s
By the late 1950s Gilman Brothers had retooled to produce a completely new product… plastic! As the Company entered the 1960s, the major product continued to be the rigid plastic sheet and increasing sales lead to an addition to the mill in 1963.
Gilman Brothers quickly became an industry leader in the vacuum forming industry with the introduction of the Gilco® High-Impact Polystyrene Sheet. Though completely usable for conventional fabricating methods, the Gilco High-Impact Sheet enabled the manufacturers to take full advantage of the manifold economies of the vacuum-forming process for which it was especially designed, offering lower die costs, greater printability, closer tolerances, and greater depth of draw than its competition.
In 1964, Gilman's pioneering research and development experts received wide recognition from the plastics industry for its role in developing the original sheet for the revolutionary Humiflex® package used by Phillip Morris for its new Saratoga and Paxton cigarettes. A closely guarded secret during its development, the Humiflex® package had to be waterproof, practical for consumer use, economically feasible to produce, and readily applicable to mass-production techniques. The new Humiflex® package was an immediate success and Gilman's Gilco® rigid plastic sheets supplied the ever-growing demand for the famous cigarette packs.
Successful experimentation in the late 1960s prompted the company to purchase a coating machine and enter the flocking business. Coating a rigid plastic sheet with a coating of fiber to produce a uniform velvet-like surface was an industry first.
Stylour® …A Plastic Sheet Flocked BEFORE Forming!
Stylour® is a velour-coated, special formulation, super high-impact styrene sheet which retains its velvety finish after forming. The basic Gilman sheet is coated with cotton or rayon flock in a variety of colors. It is available in a wide range of thicknesses, lengths, widths and finish combinations.
Stylour® was a revolutionary product in the packaging industry and was ideal for such things as perfume, jewelry, and cosmetics. The flocked sheet could now be vacuum formed to the shape of the desired insert for a perfect fit. Determination to become a more “vertically integrated company” by producing their own fiber for flocking lead to the construction of a spinning plant for polyester fiber.
New Color Laboratory Provides Fast Service
A new ultra-modern color laboratory is assuring Gilman Brothers customers of fast delivery.
By creating their own colors, laboratory technicians are meeting customer specifications without delay. Not all plastics manufacturers can provide this fast color service. Gilman does.
The new color laboratory, located in a recently-completed building adjacent to the sheet division, has the most up-to-date color facilities and highly skilled personnel.
In charge of the new facility is Orrin H. Banning, with The Gilman Brothers Company for more than 18 years. He is regarded as one of the most able color specialists in the nation.
Mr. Banning is assisted by Ubald H. Gaudette and Richard C. Chapman.
In the last five years the Gilman color laboratory has matched or designed some 4,000 colors to customer specifications.
The Gilman Brothers Company was one of the pioneers of color in the plastic sheet industry. Initially there were just a few standard colors. But the industry and customer requirements grew and so did new color requirements.
Gilman has kept up with this need and has continued to provide its customers fast delivery by creating its own colors and incorporating pigment into the plastic itself prior to sheet extrusion. Gilman was the first sheet extruder to make its own color matches to its customer requirements.
Excerpt from THE CELLULINER, March 1964.
1970s -- Fully Integrated!
In 1974, finding no technical education program in Eastern Connecticut to support the burgeoning plastics industry, Gilman Brothers instituted a company training program. The firm initiated a 12-week course in extruding, a highly critical facet of manufacturing. Diplomas were presented to a dozen graduates who automatically became full-fledged senior operators.
In the early 1970s The Gilman Brothers Company began construction on a 60,000 square foot addition to their manufacturing facilities. The $1.5 million plant expansion program included a spinning plant for polyester fiber which sped up production of the company's flocked sheet (Stylour®). The fully integrated plant facility set the stage for a new product, Luxura Stylour and a full-service approach to doing business.
"We are the only plant in the world that has under one roof the manufacture and coloring of the plastic sheet, the formulation and application of the adhesive, the manufacture of the polyester fiber, the manufacture of the flock and the final application of putting it all together into one of the most lustrous, beautiful and unusual packaging materials ever created," explained a letter to Gilman customers.
Luxura Stylour, a styrene sheet "flocked" with 100 percent pure polyester fiber, had the look and feel of velvet. It had all of the positive features of every flocking material ever made, but none of the negative ones. Luxura Stylour had the luster of rayon but didn't have the disadvantage of marking, maintaining a consistently high-quality look. Another feature that added to the quality of Luxura Stylour was the depth of color that was obtainable. Now, for the first time, there was a flocking material available with complete color penetration.
"We've virtually eliminated color matching problems by installing a color matching system controlled by a digital computer. Our computerized system, one of the few in the entire United States, guarantees color uniformity. And with the Gilman Computerized System, it's possible to match colors in minutes instead of days."
The ability to produce color concentrates, adhesives, sheet and flock was a key factor that helped make Gilman Brothers a full-service company producing everything to the customers' specifications . . . and often in half the time it took their competitors.
Luxura Stylour was soon making friends for The Gilman Brothers Company nationwide. Estee Lauder, Sheaffer Pen, Creative Packaging, Revlon, Avon, Elizabeth Arden, Shick, and others were using Luxura Stylour effectively in a variety of packaging applications.
Founder Nathan Gilman (center), flanked by his sons, Lawrence M. (left),
Gilman Brothers president, and Charles M., company vice president. (c. 1973)
1980s -- Innovators of Foam Board Manufacturing
Entering the 1980s, The Gilman Brothers Company found itself caught in the middle of an economic recession. With the rising cost of petrochemicals, the lifeblood of the plastics industry, the Company opted to divest itself of its flocking and rigid sheet divisions in 1982 and with characteristic optimism, began exploring a product that had been pushed to the back burners… expanded polystyrene foam.
Under the direction of Larry Gilman (president) and Charles 'Buddy' Gilman (vice president), the foam products division was revitalized as the brothers collaborated to design and build a new production line that would produce a paper-foam-paper laminate. They did not know it at the time, but the line rivaled the competitor's line, which had speed limitations, enabling The Gilman Brothers Company to come from virtual obscurity in this industry and become a leading manufacturer of foamboard.
"We primarily focused on making expanded foam insulation, remembers Vinnie Postemski, Gilman Brothers Director of R & D who has been with the company since 1973. "However, tucked in one corner of the Plant was a machine called 'The Peeler.' This piece of equipment was the turning point to where we are today."
On "The Peeler", the Company began making laminated board for the graphics industry. The product was called Gilman CIII Graphics Board, an economical EPS (expanded polystyrene) foam board for high-speed screen printing, mounting and die-cutting.
The 1980s also brought a change in leadership as Larry retired and Buddy took over as President. Sons Evan and Cyrus took on greater responsibilities in production and sales, developing the original version of Ryno Board®.
In 1994 Gilman Brothers introduced Duraplast II®, constructed of a core of high-density EPS with an extruded polystyrene facer. Gilman Brothers also introduced fasäd®, a fine celled XPS paper-faced board with the unique ability to be bent into three dimensional shapes.
As the Company refined and expanded its foam board product line for the printing and graphics industry, adding an array of thicknesses and surfaces, the message was clear…
Gilman Commercial Quality Foam Board will help your promotion communicate a feeling of substance that "this is something different'" All who come in contact with this longer lasting material will know that "This isn't just another promotion." They'll sense the attention to details, the fact that this promotion is important, and the implied quality of the message sent on what is visibly a more valuable substrate.
No longer a product relegated to the back burner... The Gilman Brothers product line has grown to become one of the most extensive selections of foam boards in the industry!
1997 -- 100th Anniversary and New Centennial Logo
In celebration of The Gilman Brothers Company One Hundredth Anniversary, a new logo was created in 1997. Just as a fingerprint reveals a unique identity, so does the logo we have designed for the company.
Borrowing elements from the old logo, the new "centennial logo" was created to convey this unique story. In a sense a riddle, for within the words, colors, and symbols of the logo are the clues needed to answer three questions. Who are these people? Where are they? What are they doing?
The answer to the first question reveals who these people are. The lion, the symbolic representation of the Gilman family, is seen turned to the right, healthy, robust, and "armed" with claws ready to shape its own destiny. Although appearing strong and healthy, it has been tested. Introduction of crimson to the lion symbolizes the trials and tribulations that have faced the family over its long history of ownership. It wears these scars proudly and is ready to meet present and future challenges. The color gold was selected for the lion to "reflect" this gleaming spirit of optimism!
The second clue the logo seeks to convey is the sense of place, revealing where these people are located. The use of the state shield reflects their location in a general sense. The appearance of the name Gilman over the shield reveals the specific.
With the incorporation of the establishment date of 1897, the idea of a thing or enterprise arises, and with it the answer to the final question. What are these people doing in this place? They are here to pursue the thing that allows one to provide for oneself, family, and ultimately community… namely opportunity through the creation of industry, in this case manufacturing.
The flowing blue ribbon in the logo symbolizes the river (progression and continuance), and that which ties all the elements together. Although it is no longer a factor, it was the river that brought the people to this place which resulted in the establishment of a community, built around this thing called industry. Just like the river that once powered its machines, this enterprise called The Gilman Brothers Company follows a dynamic, ever-changing and non-ceasing course!
Finally, four stars were added to the shield. Three to represent the generational span of family ownership and participation, and a fourth placed for the other dedicated employees past and present who have contributed and are continuing to make this endeavor possible.
Click to view the Gilman Brothers 100th Anniversary Logo Document
Today...
Today the company is headed by Nathan’s grandson Evan Gilman. In all, eight members of the Gilman family are active participants in the company, serving as board members and in all phases of the manufacturing process.
As one of the originators and innovators of foamboard manufacturing, we continue to improve upon quality and provide for the market needs for this versatile product. Our full line of foam boards is utilized by graphic arts professionals looking to create a variety of finished art, advertisement and merchandising signage, photo mounted and screen-printed art, as well as displays, props, and exhibits.
All progress requires change, and it has been these changes brought on by innovative people with creative new ideas that have propelled the company through time. Our history is, in fact, a celebration of progress and a testament to the hard work and dedication of the employees who have made this progress possible.
As we view the “wide horizon”, our philosophy remains clear: To recognize and encourage the individual and their abilities to contribute to the endeavor; provide a favorable work environment in order to conduct the business of manufacturing; and to produce and sell quality products at competitive prices, backed by excellent customer service and good will.