Archival Collections:

Records of the Huss Lumber Company and its successor companies, Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Company; Hoerner Boxes, Inc.; and Hoerner Waldorf Corporation. The collection is comprised primarily of financial summary reports, stock certificates, minutes of meetings, articles of incorporation, by-laws, balance sheets, and other corporate records. Most of the documents are in bound volumes, and all materials fill a single records center storage carton. The records document the history of the Huss Lumber Company throughout all phases of its existence under the executive leadership of Alvin J. Huss, who served as either president, vice chairman, or chairman of the board for the company during the era from the early 1930s to the early 1970s.

Historical/Biographical Note

The Huss Lumber Company Records document the history of the company from 1933 to 1971 under the leadership of Alvin J. Huss (1904-1998), who directed the development and expansion of the company from its base in Chicago, Illinois. Huss attended Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and studied timber physics, timber mechanics, pulp and paper chemistry, and paper manufacturing at the Forest Products Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin prior to becoming president of the Huss Lumber Company in 1932. At that time the company primarily marketed cypress and longleaf pine lumber from mills in Florida and Louisiana to forest products companies in the United States, but under the leadership of Alvin Huss the Huss Lumber Company greatly expanded its operations by acquiring new companies and merging with larger corporations.

The first major expansion of the Huss Lumber Company occurred in 1955 when Alvin Huss purchased National Container Corporation's paperboard mill in Ontonagon, Michigan, and organized the Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Company. Under its new name the company built a pulp mill, power plant, and paper mill before starting production in 1956. The company expanded again in 1962 when Huss Ontonagon merged into Hoerner Boxes, Inc., which was based in Keokuk, Iowa. Huss became vice chairman of the company and served as a member of its board of directors. Four years later, Hoerner Boxes, Inc., merged with Waldorf Corporation, a manufacturer of paper packaging products, to become Hoerner Waldorf Corporation. In 1967 Huss assumed the title of chairman of the board for Hoerner Waldorf. In that capacity he developed long-range planning strategies and directed all mergers and acquisitions. When Champion International Corporation bought out Hoerner Waldorf in 1977, Huss was named honorary vice-chairman and senior advisor, a position he held until his retirement in 1994. After retiring in 1994, Huss lived in Evanston, Illinois, until his death in 1998. Alvin and his wife Miriam had one son, Alvin John Huss, Jr., who is an attorney.

Throughout his career, Alvin J. Huss served as director, chairman, trustee, and board member for a number of trade associations and governmental boards, including the National Hardwood Lumber Association, Southern Cypress Manufacturers Association, American Forest Products Association, American Paper Institute, Institute of Paper Chemistry, and Fourdrinier Kraft Board Institute. He was instrumental in establishing Champion Internationl's corporate archives, and he worked diligently as an advocate of archival collecting while serving on the board of the Forest History Society, Inc. In recognition of his leadership in corporate archival matters, the Forest History Society renamed its archival collecting program the Alvin J. Huss Archival Program, which is one of a core set of programs that drive the Society.

Provenance 

John Huss, son of Alvin J. Huss, donated the collection to the Forest History Society in October 2001.

Processing Note

Collection materials are housed in a single records center carton in the Forest History Society Archives. Assistant Archivist/Librarian Michele A. Justice inventoried, arranged, and described the collection in January 2002.

Series Descriptions

Series I: Year-End Reports, 1956-1964, 1966

Brief year-end summary financial reports produced for the Huss Lumber Company by the certified public accounting firm of John A. Lynch & Company (231 South LaSalle Street, Chicago 4, Illinois) analyzing the overall financial situation of the company. Filed in report covers for each year.

Series II: Corporate Record Books, 1933-1967

Five bound volumes and one green binder of corporate records for the Huss Lumber Company and the Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Company for the years 1933-1942, 1942-1956, 1956-1962, and 1962-1967. Documents bound in the record books include stock certificates, articles of incorporation, by-laws, and minutes of stockholders and board of directors meetings.

Series III: Valuation Report on International Harvester Building (Chicago, Illinois), 1963

Appraisal estimating the fair market value of a building property located at 174-180 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.

Series IV: Audit Report Year Ended April 30, 1958

Audit report produced by the certified public accounting firm of Wipfli, Ullrich and Company (Wausau, Wisconsin) for the Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Company.

Series V: Documents in Connection with the Merger of Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Co. and Huss Lumber Company with and into Hoerner Boxes, Inc., 1962

Brown binder containing documents relating to a proposal by Alvin J. Huss to liquidate Huss Lumber Company into the Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Company and then merge the Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Company with Hoerner Boxes, Inc., effective 1 November 1962.

Series VI: Hoerner Waldorf Corporation Plan 1971-1980, 1971

Single bound volume containing various documents pertinent to long-range planning for the Hoerner Waldorf Corporation, a paper and paperboard packaging company of which Alvin J. Huss was the chairman in 1971. The volume is subtitled Men Plus Markets Management Plus Money Mean Higher Shareholder Value 1971-1980, and "Confidential" is stamped in gold lettering on its front cover.

Series I: Year-End Reports, 1956-1964, 1966

• Huss Lumber Company, Report on Examination, Year Ended December 31, 1956

Balance sheet, statement of income and retained earnings, list of fixed assets and provision for depreciation, statement of application of funds, schedule of cost of sales, schedule of selling and administrative expense, schedule of other income and expenses, and statement of gross profit.

• Huss Lumber Company, Report on Examination, Year Ended December 31, 1957

Balance sheet, statement of income and retained earnings, list of fixed assets and provision for depreciation, statement of application of funds, schedule of cost of sales, schedule of selling and administrative expense, schedule of other income and expenses, and statement of gross profit.

• Huss Lumber Company, Report on Examination, Year Ended December 31, 1958

Balance sheet, statement of income and retained earnings, list of fixed assets and provision for depreciation, statement of application of funds, schedule of cost of sales, schedule of selling and administrative expense, schedule of other income and expenses, and statement of gross profit.

• Huss Lumber Company, Report on Examination, Year Ended December 31, 1959

Balance sheet, statement of income and retained earnings, list of fixed assets and provision for depreciation, statement of application of funds, schedule of cost of sales, schedule of selling and administrative expense, schedule of other income and expenses, and statement of gross profit.

• Huss Lumber Company, Report on Examination, Year Ended December 31, 1960

Balance sheet, statement of income and retained earnings, list of fixed assets and provision for depreciation, statement of application of funds, schedule of cost of sales, schedule of selling and administrative expense, schedule of other income and expenses, and statement of gross profit.

• Huss Lumber Company Report on Examination Year Ended December 31, 1961, and Comparative Statement of Income and Retained Earnings years Ended December 31, 1947 through December 31, 1961

Balance sheet, statement of income and retained earnings, list of fixed assets and provision for depreciation, statement of application of funds, schedule of cost of sales, schedule of selling and administrative expense, schedule of other income and expenses, statement of gross profit, and a comparative statement of income and retained earnings for the years 1947 through 1961.

• Huss Lumber Company, Report on Examination, Ten Months Ended October 31, 1962

Balance sheet, statement of income and retained earnings, list of fixed assets and provision for depreciation, statement of application of funds, schedule of cost of sales, schedule of selling and administrative expense, schedule of other income and expenses, and statement of gross profit.

• Huss Lumber Company, Report on Examination, Year Ended December 31, 1963

Balance sheet, statement of income and retained earnings, list of fixed assets and provision for depreciation, statement of application of funds, schedule of cost of sales, schedule of selling and administrative expense, schedule of other income and expenses, and statement of gross profit.

• Huss Lumber Company, Report on Examination, Year Ended December 31, 1964

Balance sheet, statement of income and retained earnings, list of fixed assets and provision for depreciation, statement of application of funds, schedule of cost of sales, schedule of selling and administrative expense, schedule of other income and expenses, and statement of gross profit.

• Huss Lumber Company, Report on Examination, Year Ended December 31, 1966

  Balance sheet, statement of income and retained earnings, list of fixed assets and provision for depreciation, statement of application of funds, schedule of cost of sales, schedule of selling and administrative expense, schedule of other income and expenses, and statement of gross profit.

Series II: Corporate Record Books, 1933-1967

• Corporate Records, Huss Lumber Company, 1933-1942

  Stock certificates, articles of incorporation, by-laws, and minutes of stockholders and board of directors meetings for the years 1933-1942. Includes 9 loose pages-primarily correspondence from banks, legal representatives, and accountants-pertaining to the company's corporate records; clipped together with two metal paper clips and filed in front of record book.

• Corporate Records, Huss Lumber Company Volume II, 1942-1956

Stock certificates, articles of incorporation, by-laws, and minutes of stockholders and board of directors meetings for the years 1942-1956.

• Corporate Records, Huss Lumber Company Volume III, 1956-1962

Minutes of stockholders and board of directors meetings for the years 1956-1962. Includes 1 loose page listing stock certificate numbers (1, 4, 6-10), date of issue for each (1933, 1935, 1940, 1942-1943), name of person to whom stock issued (Alvin J. Huss, H. S. Cartwright, Miriam Brewer Huss), and number of shares issued (total of 1,250); all certificates listed assigned to Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Co. in Ontonagon, Michigan, as of 21 December 1959. Page is filed in front of record book.

• Corporate Records, Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Co., 1956-1962

Green binder holding stock certificates for the Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Co., 1956-1962. Includes list of shareholders, 1961-1962.

• Corporate Records, Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Co., 1956-1959

  Articles of incorporation, by-laws, and minutes of stockholders and board of directors meetings for the years 1956-1959.

• Corporate Records, Huss Lumber Company, formerly The Cypress Corporation, 1962-1967

Stock certificates, articles of incorporation, by-laws, and minutes of stockholders and board of directors meetings for the years 1962-1967. Many pages in record book are blank.

Series III: Valuation Report on International Harvester Building (Chicago, Illinois), 1963

• This report dated 21 October 1963 is an appraisal estimating the fair market value of a building property located at 174-180 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The building was owned by International Harvester Company, who planned on vacating the property on 31 December 1965. Walter R. Kuehnle & Company, Real Estate Appraisers & Consultants (22 West Monroe Street, Chicago 3, Illinois) submitted the ca. 37-page report, which was mailed by the Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Company to Mr. Walter Brewer, Attorney at Law (230 So. Clark St. - Room 1565, Chicago 4, Illinois). The report includes detailed floor plans and descriptions of conditions and layout of floors, walls, heating, plumbing, electrical, etc.

Series IV: Audit Report Year Ended April 30, 1958

• Audit report for Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Company, Ontonagon, Michigan. Report produced by Wipfli, Ullrich and Company, CPAs, Wausau, Wisconsin. Ca. 13 pages. Includes organization data such as officers, directors, date and state of incorporation, location of principal office, nature of the business, and capitalization. Lists assets, liabilities, administrative expenses, insurance schedule, rental income and expense, equipment depreciation, selling and shipping expenses, accounts receivable and payable.

Series V: Documents in Connection with the Merger of Huss Ontonagon Pulp and Paper Co. and Huss Lumber Company with and into Hoerner Boxes, Inc., 1962

• Documents are divided into forty-two sections marked by numbered tab dividers. A table of contents appears at the beginning of the binder listing the contents of each numbered section. Includes such records as a memorandum of intent dated 26 June 1962, an agreement and plan of merger, a memorandum of agreement, agreement of purchase and sale, agreement with Alvin J. Huss, minutes of meetings of companies' boards of directors, affidavits, resolutions, ballots, notices of meetings, correspondence, opinions about stock purchase, and closing certificates.

Series VI: Hoerner Waldorf Corporation Plan 1971-1980, 1971

• Bound volume divided into nine tab-labeled sections: (1) Chairman; (2) Capital Needs; (3) Timber; (4) Fibre Boxes; (5) Cartons; (6) Sacks; (7) Outmill Sales; (8) New Capacity; (9) Research. Sections contain such materials as memos, charts, shareholder reports, sales forecasts, annual reports, etc., all of which pertain to the long-range goals of the company.

http://www.foresthistory.org/Research/Faids/Huss.html

Last update: 5 October 2004.

(c) Forest History Society, 2004.