Here’s post with a different sort of theme: It shows neither book, nor magazine, nor illustration. Instead, on display is something for a book, or to be specific, for a book’s reader: That is, a bookmark, a memento of a time when print was preeminent and pixels only passingly postulated.
This Alkahn Silk Label Company bookmark, commemorating Apollo 11, dates from the summer of 1969. I’ve absolutely no memory of the circumstances under which I acquired it. Suffice to say that my memory of Apollo 11 itself – from launch, through lunar landing, through Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin’s lunar EVA, through return to Earth – is indelible.
What of the Alkan Silk Label Company? The company presumably existed as far back as the first World War, for mention of it appears in The New York Herald on September 27, 1919, in “Textile Trade Notes” under the “Weekly Business Review” section. There, there firm, located at 116 West 32nd Street in Manhattan, is noted as having been elected to membership in the Silk Association of America. Fourteen years later, in news articles appearing in the New York Sun in early November of 1933, it’s revealed that the company’s president is Mr. Alexander L. Kahn. (Thus, the name “Alkan”.) His name appears in the Sun once more, on January 12, 1937, in an Associated Press article covering the salaries of those New Yorkers earning $50,000 or less in salaries, bonuses, and other payments, as reported to Congress by Secretary Morgenthau, as reported by the “Revenue Act of 1934”.
This Oogle Map shows the location of 116 West 32nd Street: It’s not far (due west) from the Empire State Building…
…while this 2022 Oogle Street View shows the present appearance of the building’s front. The ornamentation and embellishments decorating the exterior (well, above the first floor) suggest that this is the same structure as it existed over a century ago (Has time stopped?!)
You can view another example of an Alkahn silk bookmark at Worthpoint. (Not a plug, I just want to list the source!) This one’s for the 1964 World’s Fair.
As for the eventual fate of Alkahn Company? I don’t know. Both FultonHistory and the New York Times “Times Machine” reveal nothing about its eventual fate. Whether through acquisition, bankruptcy, or obsolescence, I assume it has passed into history.
https://www.labelsandlabeling.com/news/paxar-acquires-business-alkahn-labels-inc
08 September 2003 – Paxar Acquires the Business of Alkahn Labels, Inc.
Paxar Corporation has acquired the business and assets of Alkahn Labels, Inc.,including all of the equity of Alkahn-Hong Kong Limited, for $25 million plus the assumption of certain trade liabilities. Alkahn, which produces woven labels at facilities in West Virginia, South Carolina and Hong Kong, had sales in 2002 of approximately $45 million.
Arthur Hershaft, chairman and CEO of Paxar, said, ‘Alkahn is a company that has a long history and a great reputation as a leader in the U.S. woven label business. This acquisition, which will afford many synergies and cost reduction opportunities, is strategically significant in that it will provide us with an exceptionally strong platform to grow our woven label business. Woven labels are a critical part of Paxar’s product offering because they support the brand image for many of our customers.’
Additional Comment from Alexander Kahn’s nephew Max Kahn’s wife’s obituary:
https://www.ballarddurand.com/obituaries/marcella-kahn
In 1976, Marcy partnered with Max in purchasing the firm he worked for, Alkahn Labels. For the next 27 years they worked together growing the company.
I acquired the same bookmark in the early ‘70s near Pittsburgh. Often wondered about its origins. Thank you for this post!