The "Grandpap And My Trips To Armstrong Cork Company" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Driving south on Prince Street in the city of Lancaster when I drove past my Grandpap's old house at 617 S. Prince St. It was the same house where my mother grew up before she met my dad, they married and began a home of their own.  I never got to know my Grandma since she died when I was a young boy, but I did get to know my Grandpap quite well over the years.  He enjoyed taking me for rides in his car and during those rides he often took me past the place where he worked.  The location that I remember the most was on West Liberty Street which was four blocks from where I grew up as a young boy on North Queen Street.  He often would tell me about Armstrong and the types of products they would make at the plant where he worked on Liberty Street.  He was responsible for creating linoleum products, mostly rolls of linoleum used for flooring.  I recently was reminded of my Grandpap, as well as the cork products that Armstrong sold, while reading a short story about Armstrong Cork Works, which at the time was located on New Holland Ave, east of Plum Street in Lancaster city.  At the time, it was in the early 1920s and cork was beginning to fade as king of the bottle stopper industry.  The Armstrong plant on New Holland Ave. was staffed with mostly women who worked on cork tapering machines.  This particular Armstrong plant began on Plum Street in 1893 by Richard Dodge.  

Corks being made at Armstrong Cork Company.

Two years later the company was acquired by Armstrong Cork Co. and began Armstrong's first local operation.  During the years that followed, millions and millions of cork stoppers were produced until the1920s when the demand for cork stoppers began to decline and new products began to demand more easily applied and less expensive devices.  Armstrong began installing new equipment for the production of crown caps that would eventually lead to the elimination of the machines that are pictured here.  The production of corks was finally discontinued in 1932 and The Cork Works was renamed the Closure Plant.  The Closure Plant still made closures for bottles and like items, but it eventually was used for the manufacture of linoleum for flooring.  As a child, I lived in the last block of North Queen Street which was about a half dozen blocks from the building that ultimately made linoleum.  My Granddad would have me make visits with him from time to time and he would show me how the large rolls of linoleum were made. At he end of the day we would go to his car and he would give me a ride home.  At times we would head to Roots Sale for something to eat, but you probably already read about that in this blog.  Armstrong sold the Closure Plant to Kerr Glass Manufacturing Co. in 1969 when it divested itself of ll packaging operations.  Armstrong is no longer Armstrong Cork Company, and is now Armstrong World Industries.  How much longer Armstrong will still be in Lancaster is hard to tell, but it doesn't look promising that it will be in Lancaster much longer.  As it is said...good things don't last forever.  But, I will never forget my trips to Armstrong to visit my Grandpap!  Memories for me will last foreve! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.