VIDEO and SLIDESHOW: Dennison Manufacturing Exhibit at Framingham History Center

Founded in 1844, Aaron Dennison, a maker of fine watches, built the first paperboard jewelry boxes in the United States with the help of his sister and Col. Andrew Dennison. In 1855, Andrew sold the business to his son Eliphalet Whorf (E.W.) Dennison.

The company’s biggest early success came under E.W. Dennison, when he invented a reinforced shipping tag with a washer reinforcing the hole to help guarantee the tag would arrive with its product. He patented it in 1863. That success, combined with the company’s increased involvement with high-quality paper products led to expansion, and eventually the a Framingham Plant in 1897

The final doors of a Dennison office closed last year, when an Avery-Dennison office opted to move to Westborough in August.

Today, the public is invited to see the history of Dennison Manufacturing Company and its ties to Framingham at Edgell Memorial Library. The new exhibit by the Framingham History Center will be on display through December 2015.

Members got a sneak peek of the exhibit Friday night. It is open to the public today from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is $5, although you can see the exhibit as often as you like as a member at a special $18.97 member rate.

Speaking to Framingham History Center members Friday night Executive Director told the large overflowing crowd, that “you are our true reinforcements.”

The exhibit is a year and a half in the making. Volunteers began going through more than 100 boxes of Dennison artifacts shipped from California. After Dennison was sold, the historic archive of Dennison went to the west coast after the merger of Dennison and Avery.

“Having it come back to Framingham is truly a momentous occasion for us,” said Murphy.

She said she wanted the exhibit to show people that the “Dennison legacy lives on.”

“We have years and years of programming to come with these (Dennison) archives,” said Murphy.

She specifically thanked Nancy Prince, whose parents worked at Dennison, and Center curator Dana Dauterman Ricciardi for overseeing the exhibit.

On Dec. 4 from 6 to 9 p.m., the History Center will host a Dennison Employee reunion for actual employees and family of those who worked at Dennison at Historic Village Hall. Tickets are $10 and are limited.

Realtor Mark Galante of EXIT Realty in Framingham said his dad worked at Dennison for more than 3 decades before it was sold and merged. He was one of dozens who had tales of Dennison at the members only event last night.

Galante said his dad worked on Dennison’s breakthrough Therimage technology. The revolutional process, developed in 1955, transferred ink and design on to plastics. Think Johnson & Johnson baby powder and that writing exists on the white plastic bottle thanks to Dennison. Dunkin Donuts and Coca-Cola were two other major companies that used the technology that was produced in Framingham until Multi-Color Corporation acquired that Dennison division in 2009.

Besides tags, Dennison produced crepe paper, wrapping paper, reinforcements, holiday decoration and more over its Century-plus stay in Framingham.

Here are just a few facts from the exhibit:

• During World War I, Dennison produced sterile bandages
• In 1907, Dennison began manufacturing sterile napkins
• A pioneer in sales, Dennison held classes for salesmen in 1899
• in 1929, Dennison opened a story on Newbury Street in Boston.
• Dennison made the first crepe paper napkin in 1897
• Dennison manufactured the first crepe paper in America