 SWALLOW MANUFACTURING CO. LTD. |
Swallow Manufacturing can trace its origins back to around the turn of the 20th Century. It was possibly called 'Summers Brown' before being incorporated as Swallow. It continued trading until 1991 when it went into liquidation.
In the early 1970s Swallow Manufacturing moved from London to one location, a brand new building at Western Way Bury St Edmunds Suffolk combining their offices from Atlantic House, High Holborn and their factory from Kilburn. Swallow Manufacturing made printer and typewriter ribbons, carbon paper, stamp pads, till rolls, inked rollers Hectograph inks, duplicating ink and fluids. Swallow also sold duplicator stencils film carbon and film ribbons which were bought in from specialist manufacturers. Originally a family owned company it was sold in the late eighties to a group of clueless businessmen who promptly ran it into the ground. Even if it hadn't been sold its days were number. The advent of the computer age would have seen to that. Initially computers had a zero effect. Yes there was less of a need for carbon paper and typewriter ribbons, but early computer printers used ribbons and a great many of them were made from nylon, something that Swallow was able to make in great numbers. Superfine was a particular favourite Swallow brand. It was applied both to typewriter ribbons and to carbon paper. Carbon paper was manufactured in an array of colours including black, blue, purple, red, yellow and white. Swallow Manufacturing had been a pioneer in the ribbon field. They had developed the grouping scheme of identification that was to become the CARMA/OMEF* Another popular product of the seventies and eighties was the stamp pad. Swallow made two at that time the popular Atlantic Stamp Pad and the larger Sceptre Stamp Pad. Up until the take-over in the late Eighties the late Peter Bailey was Managing Director, having taken the job on around the time of the move up from London. Prior to which his father Charles Bailey had been MD. *CARMA = Carbon and Ribbon Manufacturers Association & OMEF = Office Machine Equipment Federation |
more info coming soon |