SSC advertorial
A PART OF SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY FOR 120 YEARS The origin of the Silveray Stationery Company goes back, via Croxley, to 1804 when John Dickinson, the company, was established by an inventor of the same name.
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mong Dickinson’s inventions was the first envelope machine, a silk-thread-lined paper to prevent forgery, and a special ‘cartridge’ paper used to load gunpowder into muzzle-loaders. Through its two paper mills the John Dickinson Company produced envelopes, business, school and industry books, writing paper and printed cards. It was also a leader in the construction and production of envelope machines.
Some 24 years after Dickinson’s death in 1869, to promote exports a J.W. Timberlake was sent to establish a South African branch in Cape Town. (A Johannesburg branch followed in 1897.) Initially stock was imported and sold directly to the customer, but Timberlake invested heavily in promoting
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Croxley, which he considered the leading name for the best quality paper and stationery products. By 1906 Dickinson had begun producing, in a warehouse, simple items such as account forms. The business thrived and in 1910 the company moved into 27 Wale Street, Cape Town, naming the landmark building Croxley House. Dickinson imported the first banker-type envelope machines in 1921 and two years later acquired the two machines and order book of ES & A Robinson (South Africa) Ltd, whose principal business was packaging. Between the two World Wars, the business continued to expand with Dickinson dominating in envelope and stationery manufacture and trading. The Croxley analysis book, account book and pen carbon book ranges became supreme. The company further expanded into paper and board, holding several lucrative agencies for printing machinery.
Because of the everincreasing competition in manufacture, in the late 1950s Dickinson decided to discontinue the paper and board operation and concentrate on ‘ownmanufacturing’. In 1966 the company merged with ES&A Robinson Holdings Ltd of Bristol and the two companies pooled resources for common benefit. The new company was named DRG (Dickinson Robinson Group) SA (Pty) Ltd, trading under the name DRG Stationery. Modern factories were constructed at Epping in Cape Town and Isando in Johannesburg and in Durban a series of moves eventually led to the Mobeni premises, which is the home of Croxley to this day. In 1979, DRG South Africa Limited listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Four years later the Dickinson Robinson Group, Bristol, sold its South African interests to Kohler Limited.
Since Kohler was primarily interested in DRG’s packaging interests, DRG Stationery was soon sold to a partnership of Walton’s Stationery Company and Central News Agency Ltd (CNA), which became Silveray Statmark Co (Pty) Ltd. In 1997 Bidvest acquired Walton’s Stationery Company, and along with it SSC. Over the 120-year company history, the range of product lines and brands now distributed by SSC has grown to over 6 000, many known from classroom to boardroom, with Croxley still heading the list. Today SSC meets the needs of consumers and suppliers through a distribution network supported by branches in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Pretoria and Bloemfontein.
For more information visit: www.silveray.co.za or follow us on www.facebook.com/ silveray.statmark. m
Vol 97 - July 2013