The National Blank Book Company at the foot of Cabot Street (and later in Chicopee) was a Holyoke fixture for nearly a century and a half, producing internationally-distributed products from workforce ledgers, to diaries, to custom binders.  It ingrained itself in local factory culture in the process. As one former employee explained, “If you talked to a Holyoker and they didn’t know someone who worked there or hadn’t worked there themself, you knew they were new in town.”

Join us on Thursday, June 15 at 5pm for a Community Room panel discussion, Every Book Guaranteed Perfect: The National Blank Book Company in Retrospect. The History Room’s Archival Fellow Joe Maspo, M.A., will begin with an overview of the newly-expanded National Blank Book Collection and the interviews he conducted for the project.  The highlight will be a panel discussion with former employees about life with the company. Some unique artifacts that tell the story of a factory and its city will be on display. This project is the culmination of a months-long archival processing project and was made possible with a generous donation from the Richard and Margaret Towne Charitable Fund. For more information, contact the History Room at (413) 420-8107.