T

PREFACE

HE plan has been consistently followed throughout this book of having the men who are practically

and intimately in touch with packing problems tell the story, whether these men be of national, even international reputation, such as Lieut. Colonel David T. Abercrombie, Mr. M. C. Fitz Gerald or Captain H. N. Knowlton, who have contributed special chapters, or whether they be those who are daily in touch with the problem in the great and small manufacturing establishments throughout the land. To a large extent my own work has been restricted to that of editor and has consisted in arranging and assembling the material at hand, and I am convinced that any book on packing to be of value must necessarily be written in this way.

My thanks therefore are not alone due to the gentlemen who have been good enough to contribute signed chapters to this volume, and who have done so, let it be said, in a spirit of generous desire to assist foreign trade; my obligation is equally great to those public spirited men and organizations who have placed freely at my disposal not alone a wealth of photographic material, but have also given me the benefit of their best critical judgment both in reference to the packing problem in general and to their own individual work in particular.

There is a great deal of material that might have been included in this volume which I have been compelled to omit because of mere physical limitations, for it would not have been at all difficult to have collected sufficient data to make two books of this size. However, such additional material would have been in certain instances a repetition of what we have, and I do not believe that any essential phase of the problem has been omitted. At the same time in addition to the experimental and

other work mentioned here, recognition should be given of the developments that are taking place through the efforts of such organizations as the National Canners' Association, the National Association of Egg Case and Egg Case Filler Manufacturers, the National Association of Box Manufacturers, the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research of the University of Pittsburgh, the Glass Container Association of America, the American Society for Testing Materials, The Container Club and other groups. In a number of cases, however, the investigations have to do purely with containers for domestic shipment, with which this volume does not concern itself, while inclusion of more matter referring to export would have made this book exceed all reasonable bounds.

Attention should be called to the fact that in a number of instances the exigencies of good bookmaking as well as the number of photographs in relation to the quantity of text, have made it impossible to place photographs facing corresponding descriptive text matter. This is notably the case with the photographs illustrating Mr. Fitz Gerald's article, and it has been further necessary to place a number of these photographs toward the front of the book. However, as page references appear in all cases it is not believed that this is a material consideration.

New York, December 1, 1920.

C. C. MARTIN.

T

EXPORT PACKING

CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM

HERE are a good many of our exporters, unfortunately too many, who are inclined to look upon the problems of export packing in that smug fashion which reduces them to the position of no problems at all. Indeed it seems to be a habit nowadays to consider the export packing situation as something that has been well solved, leaving us free to move along to the discussion of more pressing and more profitable subjects. Export packing, in other words, sometimes seems to be regarded as a difficulty that no longer exists and one that no longer requires study or consideration.

The statement in the foregoing paragraph is not an exaggeration. To mention export packing to a large, and, it seems, constantly increasing number of exporters, is to mention a subject that has been worn threadbare; that belongs to the kindergarten of exporting, and that should give way to more constructive and fundamental problems. However, without in any way attempting to be radical or even original, I believe that export packing is one of the most fundamental of export problems. It may even be put in a category with export banking and export selling in point of importance.

Why There is a Problem.-It is true that the man in some other part of the world than our own is interested. in terms of credits. He is interested in the quality of goods, conditions of delivery and the many other factors that go to make good service and good exporting. But it appears that in a sense all of these things rest on the character of the export package. The foregoing factors