1995 -1999
- Published: September 20, 2002, By PFFC Staff
1920s and 1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970 - 1973
1974 - 1976
1977 - 1979
1980s
1990 - April 1993
May 1993 - 1994
2000 to present
The Mid to Late 1990s...
In 1995 the second worst terrorist attack in US history, the front half of the federal building in Oklahoma City is destroyed, killing 168 and injuring hundreds more. Army buddies Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols are arrested. McVeigh would be tried, sentenced to death, and executed in 2000.
Susan Smith--who claimed her sons, aged 1 and 3, were kidnapped during a carjacking--was convicted of murder. She had strapped the boys into her car and rolled it into a South Carolina lake.
January 1995
Paper, Film and Foil Converter becomes part of Intertec Publishing Corp. when publisher Maclean-Hunter (having been acquired by Rogers Communications in February 1994) is sold again. Peter Rigney writes, “We’ve survived several ownerships (as a matter of fact, we’ve actually grown with each new owner), and we’ve undergone many name changes. So, change is nothing new to us, and we relish it.”
The Screen Printing Assn. Intl. (SPAI) changes its name to the Screenprinting and Graphic Imaging Assn. Intl (SGIA)
Paper, Film and Foil Converter reports electronic prepress is growing and replacing traditional prep methods in most graphic arts applications, including most segments of the converting industry.
February 1995
Mail-Well Envelope Corp.’s merger with American Envelope Co. results in the American Mail-Well Co.
March 1995
April 1995A total of 10 companies receives 11 awards for outstanding achievements in flexible packaging in the 1994 Top Packaging Awards sponsored by the Flexible Packaging Assn., Washington, DC. Winners included Bell Flexible Packaging’s CRREO package; James River Corp’s Nine Lives Meaty Morsel Bag; and Interflex Group Inc.’s Bones Turkey Breast Package.
May 1995
C.A. Litzler Co. Inc., Cleveland, OH, acquired the assets from NJ-based Noven Inc. The acquisition enables Litzler to further serve the converting industry with quality ovens and drying equipment.Drupa ’95, the Intl. Trade Fair for Printing and Paper, features 1,760 exhibitors occupying approximately 126,947 sq m of space with machines, devices, and materials suitable for every process and production stage of the printing and converting cycle.
Pro Mark Technologies contributes part one of a three-part series on video web inspection. The series presents the technological basics, concepts, and principals essential to successful adaptation of the technology in the pressroom.
June 1995
The Northeast Label Manufacturers Assn. (NELMA) was created to fulfill the needs of label producers in the northeastern United States.
According to the Freedonia Group, the overall air-pollution-control market in the US will grow by about 13.4% per year until 1997. Most of the projected growth is attributed to the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, which mandate significant reductions of particulate emission, volatile-organic compounds (VOC), sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides.
July 1995
Yolanda Simonsis is hired as associate publisher/editor. Yolanda had been involved in the packaging industry as an editor since 1978, first with Packaging Digest and then for 12 years with Converting. Acting as Converting’s managing editor from 1983 to 1985, Yolanda was named chief editor in 1985.
Yolanda writes, “When a potentially valuable opportunity presented itself, I had the choice of either seizing it or letting it pass. Both came with their unique risks, but in the final analysis, the challenge of ‘change’ seemed the more attractive to me.”
August 1995
Pro Mark Technologies and BST Servo-Technik GmbH announce a partnership to jointly develop and market video web inspection systems and web guiding equipment on a global basis.
Paper, Film, and Foil Converter reports that new heater roller technology reportedly is yielding reduced warm-up and temperature-recovery times while reducing maintenance downtime and improving process control.
A PIRA Intl. market report on U.K. packaging markets includes the chapter "Industry Forecast," which states: “The overall market for packaging in the UK is forecast to show growth in the future, particularly in plastics-and paper-based sectors.
Debbie Donberg is hired as managing editor.
The 10th edition of CMM takes place in Chicago. New products include Bell-Mark’s custom-designed 1234-HS FD single color flexographic printer; and Enercon’s Oxon-Ex I line designed to remove converting impurities from corona station exhaust.
PFFC announces Michael Delmore of 3M is the winner of our London Theater Extravaganza.
September 1995
Bowater PLC changes name to Rexam PLC.
October 1995
The 13th annual K’95 International Trade Fair is held in Dusseldorf, Germany, with more than 2,300 exhibitors.
February 1996
David J. Bentley Jr. of RBS Technologies joins the staff as a contributing editor. He writes the monthly PLC Probe column.
June 1996
John Bold is appointed group publisher of three Intertec publications: Paper, Film & Foil Converter, American Printer, and Boxboard Containers International.
September 1996
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) finalizes its ISO-14000 environmental quality standards.
November 1996
Mike Derda joins as the staff as Eastern Manager and, over time, is promoted to associate publisher/national sales manager.
March 1997
Richard M. Podhajny joins the staff as contributing editor. Podhajny authors the Material Science column.Thirty-nine members of the Heaven’s Gate cult committed mass suicide in their California headquarters, in hopes of traveling to new bodies aboard a space ship accompanying comet Hale-Bopp.
The industry loses a good friend when publisher Peter Rigney dies of a virulent strep infection at age 56.
April 1997
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) releases a controversial working draft of its proposed Safety and Health Program standard. The draft will require all covered employees to develop a program to manage workplace safety and health systematically, as well as reduce occupational injuries and illnesses.
Tiger Woods wins the Masters Tournament, becoming the first non-white golfer to win, as well as the youngest and best scoring champion in the tournament’s history.
June 1997
David Fay joins the staff as northeast manager.
August 1997
FDA published its proposal to replace GRAS (generally recognized as safe) Affirmation Petition process. If adopted, the rule will alter the current regulations for food-contact materials.
October 1997
EPA informs Congress that UV-curable inks and coatings served as an example of innovative and cost-effective advancements to comply with the Clean Air Act.
November 1997
Over 50 organizations, states, and individuals sue the EPA for its recently issued tighter rules on the amount of ozone and particulate matter that can exist in ambient air.
December 1997
SNL star Chris Farley dies from an overdose of drugs and alcohol.
January 1998
Congress enacts a law to benefit converters of food packaging, their suppliers, and their customers. The FDA Modernization Act (FDAMA) will speed up the process by which food packaging materials are cleared for use.
Unibomber Theodore Kaczynski pleads guilty to five counts of federal bombing in exchange for a prison sentence of life without parole.
February 1998
In the Nagano Winter Olympics, Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest figure skater to win the gold medal.
March 1998
The U.K.’s premier packaging show -- Pakex ’98 -- covered four large halls in the National Exhibition Center and was full of new and exciting packaging and converting developments.
May 1998
Singer Frank Sinatra dies May 15, 1998.
June 1998
Scitex demonstrates its Aprion digital 6-in. protoype head for drop-on-demand inkjet printing.
July 1998
The Fairgrounds in Milan, Italy, served as the site of Converflex Europe ’98, the sixth edition of the International Exhibition for Paper, Paper Converting, Package Printing Machines, and Materials.
September 1998
Chicago hosts Labelexpo ‘98. Mark Andy makes the US debut of its “SQC” Super Quick Change Makeready System.
October 1998
K 98, the 14th International Trade Fair for Plastics + Rubber, comes to the Fairgrounds in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Former astronaut John Glenn returns to space at age 77 aboard the space shuttle Discovery.
January 1999
President Clinton’s impeachment trial began in the Senate on January 7th. He was acquitted on Lincoln’s birthday.
February 1999
Claudia Hine joins the staff as assistant editor. Shelia Millar, attorney-at-law at Keller & Heckerman, joins the staff as contributing editor to author the monthly Legal Briefs column.
February 1999
Teresa Koltzenburg joins the staff as senior editor.
CMM International’s keynote address, to be delivered by football legend Walter Payton, is cancelled due to the soon-to-be-fatal affects of liver cancer.
Black Clawson unveils its newest coater for the application of Dow Corning’s room-temperature silicone coatings.
Valmet launches its Atlas sheeter, which was demonstrated at the company's booth.
Ten years ago Congress passed the Clean Air Act of 1990, causing the converting industry to re-examine its production practices. State environmental agencies now are beginning to complete their review of the Title V permit applications submitted over the course of the last several years.
May 1999
Empaques Latino Americanos, a supplement to Boxboard Containers International (PFFC’s sister publication), also runs in PFFC. The publication is written entirely in Spanish.
July 1999
The New York Yankees won their 25th World Series Championship of the century.
October 1999
The Technical Assn. of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) and the Association of Independent Corrugated Converters (AICC), each bring prestige and technical capability expertise to the jointly sponsored Corrugated Week ‘99 and SuperCorrExpo 2000.
December 1999
A jury determined in a wrongful death trial that James Earl Ray, Martin Luther King Jr.’s convicted assassin, was the patsy in a government-mafia conspiracy.
Technicians scramble to fix “Y2K bugs.”
