Royal Paper Corporation, 210 11th Ave. at 25th St. (2002)

The Royal Card & Paper Co. moved into 210 11th Ave. in 1926 and remained here until the late 1980s. The company name changed to Royal Paper Corporation around 1937.

This image from the New York Public Library's Digital Collections shows that the sign in this location in Dec. 1936 read Royal / Card & Paper Co.

Royal Card & Paper was founded by Paul Baron (ca.1861-1942) and two sons, Abner Baron (1889-1953) and Samuel T. Baron (1891-1969). Paul Baron was an immigrant from Russia around 1884. He is found in the U. S. Census of 1900 living on Bay 13th St., Brooklyn living with his wife, Fanny, and their seven children. His occupation is given as a printer. Abner Baron is called Abraham in this census. He is listed as 12 years old and was born in Russia. Samuel Baron is listed as 8 years old and was born in New York. By the time of the 1910 census the family had increased to 9 children. Paul Baron's occupation is "Publisher Publishing House." Abner Baron is now called Abner. He is 23 years old and is employed in "Ladies Novelties." Samuel T. Baron is 19 and employed as "Salesman Novelties."

Paul Baron's obituary in the New York Times (23 June 1942, p. 19) reads, "Paul Baron, president of the Royal Paper Corporation, 210 Eleventh Avenue, paper jobbers and converters, died yesterday in his home, 55 Central Park West, after a short illness. Mr. Baron had been a leader in the paper industry for sixty years. His age was 81. Mr. Baron was born in Russia."

Abner Baron's obituary (29 June 1953, p. 21) includes his picture and reads in part, "Abner Baron, founder and president of the Royal Paper Corporation, 210 Eleventh Avenue, manufacturers, converters and distributors of paper products, died Saturday night in Doctors Hospital after a long illness. Mr. Baron, who lived at 15 West Eighty-first Street, was 63 years old. Born and educated in New York, he founded in 1913 his firm, which achieved prominence in the paper industry... His father, the late Paul Baron, had been a prominent paper and printing merchant." Note that Abner's birth place contradicts the early census reports.

Samuel T. Baron's obituary (22 Aug. 1969, p. 35) also includes his photograph ("made some years ago") and reads in part, "Samuel T. Baron, chairman of the board and president of the Royal Paper Corporation, died at his home here yesterday after a long illness. He was 77 years old and lived at 25 Sutton Place South. Mr. Baron founded Royal in 1913 with his father and a brother. The company is a wholesale distributor and manufacturer of printing papers and envelopes, with offices at 210 11th Avenue and a manufacturing plant in New Jersey. Royal was the first producer of gift-wrapping paper in the United States... A native of New York, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the City College of New York and a Bachelor of Laws degree from New York University."

Another of Paul Baron's sons who worked for Royal Card and Paper Co. was the eldest son, Louis Joseph Baron (1884-1947). His application for a passport in 1919 stated that his father, Paul Baron, immigrated to the U. S. 20 Sep. 1889 and became a naturalized citizen 3 Oct. 1894. An attachment to the application is signed by Samuel T. Baron, secretary of the Royal Card & Paper Co. of New York, and states that Louis Baron is to travel to Denmark, Norway & Sweden to sell for export and purchase for import paper and cardboard wood pulp, etc. It also says that the above named firm had been engaged in business for 6 years. This date agrees with Royal Card & Paper's first listing in the Manhattan telephone directory, which was 1913.

Louis Baron's obituary in the New York Times (11 Aug. 1947, p. 23) read, "Louis J. Baron of 450 West End Avenue, vice president of the Royal Paper Corporation and a founder of the concern, died Saturday of a heart attack in the Mount Washington Hotel, Bretton Woods, N. H., where he was vacationing, according to word received here yesterday. His age was 65. Born in this city, a son of Paul and Fannie Baron, he had previously been in the printing business with his father. He was vice president of the Royco Realty Corporation and of the 210 Eleventh Avenue Corporation. Mr. Baron leaves a son, Leonard; a daughter, Phylis; four brothers, Abner, Samuel T., Harry and Morton, and four sisters."

One more son was Morton Harold Baron (1896-1986). He registered for the World War II draft in 1942 when employed at Royal Paper Corp., 210 11th Ave.

An attachment to a passport application made by Samuel T. Baron in 1920 was signed by Abner Baron, Treasurer, on stationery with a letterhead for Royal Card & Paper Co. when they were located at 100-102 Worth St. (click for image). This ad, also for the Worth St. location, appeared in The Printing Trades Blue Book, 1918.

This image from the New York Public Library's Digital Collections contains a very, very faint sign on the side of a building on 14th St. Royal Card & Paper was located at 134 W. 14th St. from 1922 to 1926.

210 11th Ave. carries an inscription over its front door reading Baron Building. Constructed in 1912, the building would not have had this name prior to being occupied by Royal Card and Paper in 1926. A story in the New York Times in 1930, regarding a fire, referred to the building as the Baron Building.

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