Karla
Grumbler in Training
October 14, 2004
Peterboro Matboards Then and Now
With the recent attention Peterboro matboards have been receiving in North America, I thought it time to let the Grumble users know about our company, its history, and the direction for the future.
Peterboro Cardboards has been manufacturing matboards and specialty art materials for 100 years. We are located in Peterborough Ontario about 100 miles north east of Toronto.
Peterboro was owned and operated by the Westbye family for 3 generations and for decades remained the number one supplier of matboards to the Canadian market. In the late 1970’s other matboard manufactures entered Canada from the US and reduced Peterboro’s position with attacks and misinformation. I can attest to this first hand as I was a framer at the time and thus a recipient of this misinformation.
The owners of Peterboro lacked the sophistication to effectively maintain their market in the face of this new competition. They tried to rely on their many years of dominance in Canada but drifted into obscurity.
In October of 2001 I purchased the company with a partner from the Westbye family. The reasons for the purchase were simple. Peterboro had 100 years of matboard manufacturing experience what they lacked was new product development and global vision, the two things we could bring to the company.
I am pleased to say that Peterboro Cardboards today has very little similarity to the company of 3 years ago. The key production people have remained and each has an average of over 30 years experience at Peterboro. We now have on staff a mechanical engineer and an electrical engineer to upgrade and build new equipment. We have added Dr. Geza Matolcsy with 40 years experience in paper making. He holds a PhD from Yale in pulp and paper chemistry and has been instrumental in changing the way Peterboro matboards perform for the framer. Karla Adams is our certified quality control technician and works with Dr. Matolcsy to oversee all aspects of production. Dr. Matolcsy and
Ms. Adams have set up an on site laboratory to QC raw materials and finished goods. These are only a few of the many changes at Peterboro. Our list of upgrades and changes goes on and on.
Peterboro is committed to a strong future in matboard manufacturing. We produce a full line of matboard products such as Blackcore, Whitecore, Suedes, Silkscreen etc.
Answers to some of the questions appearing on the Grumble.
1] Does Peterboro adhere to any matboard standards?
Feel confident in using Peterboro Conservation. It meets the standards of FACTS, Library of Congress, and has recently been certified by the Fine Art Trade Guild of London England who demands some of the highest standards in the production of conservation matboards. To this end we have on file and can provide certificates of analysis by independent laboratories, for each conservation matboard we produce. Remember Peterboro suffered at the hands of the competition in the past and we want
to prevent anymore unsubstantiated innuendo.
2] Peterboro is over 90% alpha cellulose what is the other 10%?
The Library of Congress, FACTS, and the Fine Art Trade Guild specify that a conservation board must be of “high alpha cellulose content.” This has been further defined by the above groups as not less than 84%. As stated Peterboro Conservation has over 90% alpha cellulose with the remaining 10% of board composition being made up of approx. 4% calcium carbonate, 5% moisture, and small amounts of pigments and binding agents to hold everything together.
At Peterboro a global outlook has proven to be our mantra. Although we have recently expanded our customer base to include the US, we have been exporting to South America, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand for a number of years. The reason for our acceptance into world markets is that Peterboro offers great value
across all product lines without sacrificing quality and will continue to do so.
Our product line continues to grow at a rapid rate. I spent 30 years as a custom framer and my only interest is to produce products framers can actually use. We will continue to grow around the world by being the board of choice.
Alan Yaffe
President
Peterboro Cardboards Limited
P.S. How can anyone buy mats from a company that can’t spell color?
In Canada we spell many words differently than the US. Colour is but one, add to it others like cheque and neighbour.
Peterboro Matboards Then and Now
With the recent attention Peterboro matboards have been receiving in North America, I thought it time to let the Grumble users know about our company, its history, and the direction for the future.
Peterboro Cardboards has been manufacturing matboards and specialty art materials for 100 years. We are located in Peterborough Ontario about 100 miles north east of Toronto.
Peterboro was owned and operated by the Westbye family for 3 generations and for decades remained the number one supplier of matboards to the Canadian market. In the late 1970’s other matboard manufactures entered Canada from the US and reduced Peterboro’s position with attacks and misinformation. I can attest to this first hand as I was a framer at the time and thus a recipient of this misinformation.
The owners of Peterboro lacked the sophistication to effectively maintain their market in the face of this new competition. They tried to rely on their many years of dominance in Canada but drifted into obscurity.
In October of 2001 I purchased the company with a partner from the Westbye family. The reasons for the purchase were simple. Peterboro had 100 years of matboard manufacturing experience what they lacked was new product development and global vision, the two things we could bring to the company.
I am pleased to say that Peterboro Cardboards today has very little similarity to the company of 3 years ago. The key production people have remained and each has an average of over 30 years experience at Peterboro. We now have on staff a mechanical engineer and an electrical engineer to upgrade and build new equipment. We have added Dr. Geza Matolcsy with 40 years experience in paper making. He holds a PhD from Yale in pulp and paper chemistry and has been instrumental in changing the way Peterboro matboards perform for the framer. Karla Adams is our certified quality control technician and works with Dr. Matolcsy to oversee all aspects of production. Dr. Matolcsy and
Ms. Adams have set up an on site laboratory to QC raw materials and finished goods. These are only a few of the many changes at Peterboro. Our list of upgrades and changes goes on and on.
Peterboro is committed to a strong future in matboard manufacturing. We produce a full line of matboard products such as Blackcore, Whitecore, Suedes, Silkscreen etc.
Answers to some of the questions appearing on the Grumble.
1] Does Peterboro adhere to any matboard standards?
Feel confident in using Peterboro Conservation. It meets the standards of FACTS, Library of Congress, and has recently been certified by the Fine Art Trade Guild of London England who demands some of the highest standards in the production of conservation matboards. To this end we have on file and can provide certificates of analysis by independent laboratories, for each conservation matboard we produce. Remember Peterboro suffered at the hands of the competition in the past and we want
to prevent anymore unsubstantiated innuendo.
2] Peterboro is over 90% alpha cellulose what is the other 10%?
The Library of Congress, FACTS, and the Fine Art Trade Guild specify that a conservation board must be of “high alpha cellulose content.” This has been further defined by the above groups as not less than 84%. As stated Peterboro Conservation has over 90% alpha cellulose with the remaining 10% of board composition being made up of approx. 4% calcium carbonate, 5% moisture, and small amounts of pigments and binding agents to hold everything together.
At Peterboro a global outlook has proven to be our mantra. Although we have recently expanded our customer base to include the US, we have been exporting to South America, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand for a number of years. The reason for our acceptance into world markets is that Peterboro offers great value
across all product lines without sacrificing quality and will continue to do so.
Our product line continues to grow at a rapid rate. I spent 30 years as a custom framer and my only interest is to produce products framers can actually use. We will continue to grow around the world by being the board of choice.
Alan Yaffe
President
Peterboro Cardboards Limited
P.S. How can anyone buy mats from a company that can’t spell color?
In Canada we spell many words differently than the US. Colour is but one, add to it others like cheque and neighbour.