Paramount Greting Cards
400 Pine Street
Pawtucket, RI
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UPDATE MARCH 15th 2020
Unfortunately several readers have contacted me stating that the old Paramount Greeting Card Company burnt to the ground yesterday. I’m very sorry to hear that and this is one of the reasons I try to preserve history in photographs.
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After a century in business this manufacturer of greeting cards finally closed it’s doors in 2006 resulting in a loss of jobs for approx. 1200 people. You have to give them credit. Most manufacturers from that era folded their tent in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. They hung on longer than most. I don’t go onto the “grounds” in fear of trespassing so I was only able to take a photo of the office building and a section of the factory itself from the driveway entrance.
Photographed with a Sony Nex 7, 24MP, mirrorless camera and Sony 10-18 mm lens.
Was this building demolished or is it still intact?
I’m not from the area so I have not been back since taking those photo’s. These are quite beautiful and substantial buildings so, if I had to guess, I’d think they would try to re-purpose them rather than resort to demolition. Sorry I can’t answer your answer for sure.
The buildings are still around. I applied for an office position, I didn’t get hired, but it’s sad to see part of history been destroyed with time.
Good bye Paramount Cards!!
I agree. It’s very sad to see history being destroyed. At least the buildings still stand. Perhaps they’ll be re-purposed into apartments/condominiums. That’s the way many of the old mill buildings have gone. Thank you for your comment!
Thank you for posting these terrific pictures of the legendary Paramount Card Company. I had always wanted to visit, but never had the chance when they were operating. This building complex is gorgeous – I hope they can do something worthy with it!
Hi Rob,
Thanks for visiting and, of course, your kind remarks. Glad you enjoyed the pictures!
Best regards,
Jay
Thank you for the pictures my dad worked there for over 40 years as a kid he would deliver paper to various parts of the plant eventually moving to supervisor of the printing Department and then also The Cutting Department in late 70s and early 80s he became an executive of the company but still went to work in his blue uniform with his name on the right breast and the name of the company on the left he would bring his pant suits and shoes in a garment bag just in case he had a meeting and then we returned to his work clothes and went back to work in the late 80s he decided to retire at the age of 55 because some turmoil within the company he felt the company would not survive the way it was going and wanted out he went on to work as a custodial maintenance man for Holiday Inn until as late 80s having passed two years ago thank you for these pictures
Hi Todd,
It makes me so happy to know that my photo’s bring back fond family memories and a little bit of yesteryear. These are the types of comments I tend to receive most. Your Father certainly climbed the ranks from delivery to executive. Continuing to work well into his 80’s is quite impressive. Thank you for sharing your fond memories of your Dad with the rest of us. I wish you all the best. Jay
I was a card designer/writer at Paramount in the mid to late 1980’s. Recall going up to the top floor of one of the towers you see in the photo’s and taking some excellent shots of Pawtucket from the tower windows.
What a great historical place to have worked for a few years!
Les I found some 30 x 30″ alumium panels with drawings on them marked Paramount, Pawtucket, RI. It’s seems that they are sketches of future greeting cards. Would you have any idea what they are?
I visited Paramount in Pawtucket in 1987, from my Greeting Card Company in South Africa, we at the time bought designs from them in those days, found it to be a very reputable company, and were treated very well by the Company President, Management and Staff, find it very sad to see it closed.
It is sad that it shut down. It’s even sadder than mill after mill and manufacturers all throughout Rhode Island and Connecticut went belly up over the past 20+ years and we’re still waiting for a rebound. What’s happening economically in other parts of this country aren’t happening in CT and RI. I’m just glad that I can retire any time I want because if I was a young kid just starting out I’d have my concerns around here. This company is one of my most commented on blog entries. Folks seemed to really enjoy working there and miss it. Thanks for your comments.
I had a summer job there in 1970 while I was in college and my father was head of the art department. I worked as part of the manual labor crew moving and packing/staking pallets of cards. Thanks for the pictures that brought back some old memories.
Hi Steve – Thank you for your comments! I’m always most pleased when these images bring back fond memories for folks such as yourself.
Hello, I worked for them ( in the New Orleans based territory that covered all of LA, MS, south AL and FL panhandle – basically the Gulf Coast from Mississippi to Mobile AL and Florida panhandle ) from April 1995 to February 1997. I am not sure the timeline here but thought they disbanded much sooner than 2006. I thought they sold the company to another greeting card company soon after I left in 1997. The major low to them was in 1996 they began the shift from the sales model of a vast network of mom & pop pharmacies selling their beautiful 99 cent cards to their business broker model of CARD $mart stores. I was never able to recruit serious dealers with the financial backing to open a Card $mart store in the territory and am near sure they never had one but had heard rumor of one somewhere near Jackson MS.
Hi Tim,
Thank you for your commentary regarding your time spent working for Paramount Greeting Cards. We appreciate your stopping by!
Jay
I had worked for Paramount Greeting Cards from 1971 to 1977. I started out assembling cards putting acetate and gluing them up. It was piece work. I made $5.50 an hr., a very good wage for those times, since the minimum wage was $1.50. Then they created a machine to do the work. I had 13 different jobs while I was there ending up as in data entry by the time I left. It was a great place to work. Two years later I moved to California.
Hi Veronica,
Everyone seems to have nothing but good things to say about their time at Paramount. Must have had an excellent culture. Another machine replacing a skilled laborer even in the mid 70’s. I suppose the very start of it all. Thank you very much for sharing your time spent there with us.
Jay
Sadly the buildings caught fire early this morning and we’re destroyed 😣
OH my God. I’m so sorry to hear that. I know so many people have good memeories of the factory. This is one of the reasons I take these pictures. I know these buildings won’t be around forever and, it seems, that the few still remaining become repurposed as apartments.
Jay
As of early this morning flames have engulfed the mill complex that once housed Paramount Cards
So very sad this mill building and three others next to it went up in flames this morning
My father worked at Paramount for many years and my grandmother worked in one of the other mills
Sorry to see history gone
I’m so sorry to hear of this as well Maureen. It’s extra sad when someone closed to you worked for years there.
Jay
Today at 3a.m. was a fire in the building! 😢 I don’t know what happened but looks like the building burn. So sad, I worked at the Paramount Cards my first job in this Country, very good jod and co-workers! Thanks God for everything 🙏❤️
Hold on to the good memories Madelaine. It’s all most of us have.
everyone who enjoyed this sweet factory, cherish the nostalgic memories because it’s burned down 🙁
Ageed.
It’s now been totally destroyed by a fire that started yesterday.
Unbelievable.
Sadly, this building was destroyed by fire on March 14, 2020. My friend Francine had worked there from 1966 to 1976 and we spent some time reminiscing about it today. We always thought it was ripe for redevelopment as it was in good condition and was a beautiful building. Sadly we’ll never see that happen.
It’s extremely sad Jim. I hate to see our history vanish and I feel for those that have a past with this company. Thanks for stopping by.
Jay
Thanks Jay. We’re members of Blackstone Valley Historical Society and Francine would like to write an article about the Paramount Line factory for the newsletter. Would you mind if we used your photos with credit?
Hi Jim,
Sorry I was delayed in seeing your correspondence. No please do & thank you for crediting the images. All the best to you. Jay
Thanks Jay. What should we use as credit? And do you have print resolution of the photos?
Hi Jim,
I’m so sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I don’t tend to this website everyday regrettably and sometimes folks, accidentally, get left hanging as in your case.
It’s probably too late now but now but for credit just put: http://www.journeysthrumylens.com
I wouldn’t know how to send a hi-res file. I could probably send one that is 3MB or so. Let me know.
Sure, thanks. My email address is what I used to write this comment, or you can PM my Twitter (my name on the 3/14 message links to it.
Thanks
Hi Jim,
I’ll send the images today to your email. They are approx. 88 MB’s each so I’ll scale it down to around 5MB or so. Hopefully that will work for you. Please email me a link to the newsletter if possible. I’d love to read the article. Thank you, Jay
Hi Jim,
I just emailed you a link to my DROP BOX where you can download (3) HI-RES images of the Paramount Greeting Card Factory taken back in January of 2016. Good luck with your newsletter and please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you. All the best, Jay
Hi Jay, thanks so much for the email. I tried to respond but it came back undeliverable. I forwarded it to Francine and Lori at Blackstone Valley Historical Society.
Good Jim. I don’t know why my email came back undeliverable but hopefully the download will work just fine for you folks.
Jay
Here is a link to the newsletter, published in April 2020. Thanks again.
https://www.bvhsri.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/04-20-Newsletter.pdf
Hi Jim,
Thank you for forwarding the newsletter onto me. I will use this in my blog as an update to the initial entry if you don’t mind. Nice job you and Francine did putting this article together. She did a particularly nice job writing it and it was very informative.
Please let me know if I can be of any help in the future. All the best to you Jim.
Hi, sorry it has been a while, this year has been a little hectic. Yes please do use it in your blog if you’d like.
I haven’t seen the Mill site since March 15, so I’m not sure what state it is in, and have not heard anything about demolition.
Hi Jim,
Thank you for your permission to use the newsletter in my blog. All the best to you Sir.
Jay
I worked there for 9 years graphic design manager I was sad to see it burning today we saw apparitions there and there are tunnels under the building part of history lost today
Hi Patty,
I hope your 9 yrs. there were as good as many of the folks that worked there. It is tough to see something that your connected to gone.
I wish you all the best & thank you for your comment.
Jay
Hello I came across the portrait of JFK and it appears that it was made by the paramount line Inc. do you know any history about this.
Hi Kristopher,
Thank you for stopping by. May I suggest that you contact the Blackstone Valley Historical Society as they are a rich source of information.
Blackstone Valley Historical Society
Jay
Hi Kristopher. In the early 1960s Paramount made cards that were quite large (maybe 8 x 10 or larger) with a picture printed on a satin like fabric stretched over padding. Is that what the picture is like that you have? I believe they were printed after JFK was shot.
Hi, I worked in the art department of Paramount Cards for 4 years from 1994 to 1998. It was so sad when I heard they were going out of business. I have many friends and colleagues who worked there until they closed. I found your photos when I was searching for photos of the building. I’m putting together a short introdctory video about my work for my Youtube channel. I don’t seem to have any photos of the building, and I thought it would be a nice way to begin my introduction with a photo of the place I began my career. Would it be possible to get your permission to use one of your photos for this purpose? I would give you credit and a copyright notice, of course. Thank you for posting these pictures.
Hi Tim,
Sorry for the late response. I’m not in my website daily so I’m always behind. YES Tim, please go ahead any use any of the images from the Paramount Card building for your personal purposes. A credit is appreciated. Hope I didn’t get back to you too late.
Jay
I once worked security at this site while operations were ceasing. I felt nothing but empathetic for those losing their jobs. Hopefully everyone found greater opportunities and embraced them. Pictures were historically perfect Thank you
Thank you for your comments Bob.
I just looked at the most beautiful Christening card given to my husband 1968 the year he was born. It was a story keepsake absolutely gorgeous a padded satin from cover. I sure wish you were still in business.
Very sad about the factory. I came across a couple of boxes of Paramount cards that somehow were passed along to me by relatives whom have since passed. These cards are beautiful and don’t compare to todays standards. Thank you for these historical treasures as they are truly artistic and thoughtfully made.
HI Cheryl,
Well thank YOU for those very kind words. They inspire me to do more work that. I’m not sure there has been a blog entry that has received more commentary than the Paramount Company. Folks seemed to have loved working there and their products. Jay
After looking through old cards that I had given my Mom years ago, I came across a beautiful one with poinsettias on the front and I had dated it 1979. I had stored it in a plastic sleeve. I decided to look on the back and after seeing Paramount, I began to look up the company and was completely fascinated. Wouldn’t it be great to share our card(s) with a simple snapshot of the front!?
Sounds like a great idea Denise! Good louck with that. Jay
Hello, Jay, I just came across your amazing site while searching for information about Paramount Card Company. Do you have any information about an artistic director at the company, Maurice L. Freedman, who passed away in 1984? I am interested in whatever I can learn about this talented man. Your photographs of the company architecture are beautiful. These images are of remarkable historical value. Thank you.
Hi Donna,
First and foremost I’m so happy I took these images and that they have long term value. I did not know at the time how much organization factory meant to folks that worked there. I don’t think there is any other blog entry I’ve made that has as many responses as this one. However, to answer your question, I was just the photographer. I did not do any research into the company so I’m unable to help you in that regard. Perhaps another reader will stumble upon your request and help you out.
All the best……….Jay
Hi Scott peters here worked at paramount from 1995 until 2005 at the end I was in charge of the entire printing division until they decided to move all operations to Cambridge Canada tax and health care reasons the company paramount cards did not just close but made an unsuccessful move and ended up going chapter 11 and about 200 of us lost our jobs and ow yea when they finally went belly up the bank that financed that move lost more money than paramount greeting cards please don’t get me wrong trust me if they never did this I would sill be working there Scott peters working supervisor 10 men two shifts 10 yrs
Hi Scott,
Thanks for your comments. You added some insight that I, and I’m sure many readers who didn’t work there, were unaware of. It’s too bad that all of this happened to a place that so many employees loved working at.
I hope you landed on your feet and found another opportunity that you like as well.
Jay
I worked for Paramount for many years, both in-house and freelance. Thank you so much for the picture.
Hi MrsRalph,
Everyone that worked here seemed to have fond memories. Thank you for your comment.
Jay
THIS COMMENT HAS BEEN REJECTED BY THE ADMIN OF THIS SITE AS IT DOES NOT MEET OUR GUIDELINES.
Thank you for these photos. I worked here as a Graphic Designer for several years around 1990. This place was massive and magnificent. We are currently on vacation back in Rhode Island – the entire state is a treasure.
Hi Scott,
Thank you for your comment. This factory, (or what once was), has received more comments, 99% favorable, than any other blog post I have. I’m from CT but I too enjoy Rhode Island and all it has to offer.
Jay