GLENDALE — Lots of companies are working at breakneck speeds right now to get ready for the holiday season.
“In an hour I can usually do 70 to 80 of these," Keegan Murphy, an employee at Cream City Ribbon in Glendale said.
Murphy is putting together spools of ribbon one after another. He sets one spool to be filled. By the time that one is ready, another one is finished.
Murphy has to work fast since the holiday season is upon us. But, he isn't preparing for the holiday you probably think of.
"So like Christmas, we finished back up in summertime. Right now, we're working on Valentine's Day as it's only November," Murphy said.
While Murphy has been working at Cream City Ribbon for about a year, the company has been making ribbon for nearly 100 years. Eric Crawford has owned the company for the past 11 years. He oversees all the Christmas crazes and holiday hurry-ups. They provide ribbon for local chocolatiers and large businesses like Paper Source and Barnes & Noble.
“When we did the math and averaged what we did, we made enough ribbon to go to the moon since the last 100 years," Crawford said.
Cream City Ribbon has literally been putting a bow on it since the roaring 20s. If you step inside their manufacturing facility, you'd think the company hasn't changed much since then. It still uses the same ribbon-making machines it started with in the 1920s. Cream City Ribbon prefers to use traditional methods because that gives them a unique product.
“We’ve looked at what are ways that we can improve or modernize. There just isn’t. We could do a couple things, but it removes the artisan nature," Crawford said.
They make a special type of unwoven ribbon made just from water, glue, and yarn. It's a more durable product than many other ribbons on the market. Each strand is made up of 55 pieces of yarn. That's what helps Cream City Ribbon stand out.
“We can crank out millions of yards of ribbon, so it kind of works," Crawford said.
Plus, the ribbon's durability plays into the company's mission to source and manufacture everything sustainably.
“We’re using U.S.-grown cotton yarn, a water-based adhesive. If we print, we print in soy-based ink. Our spools are made from recycled paper from Beloit Box company. We’re very local. We run with a very low carbon footprint," Crawford said.
So when you buy the ribbon to wrap your presents this season, you can re-purpose it when you’re done.
“Use it as I said to tie your tomato plants, or a bundle of wood, or shred it, or use it for craft projects, and literally throw it in the compost bin, or cut it into pieces and leave it for the squirrels. It should not make its way to the landfill," Crawford said.
Beyond environmental sustainability, Crawford is helping sustain small-scale manufacturing in the area. He's helping keep the art of old-school ribbon cutting alive in the 21st century.
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