So a confession/fact about Brittany: I love factories, manufacturing, supply chain, and most anything ME. I was super stoked to find some articles on the pulp factory in Burnie (on the north coast) and their general maker culture.
The paper mill in Burnie, known as "The Pulp" had a lasting effect on the town's culture. It has a super interesting history which I probably won't do justice to with the limited sources I've found on it, but I'm gonna try to go over some highlights.
According to the article, the mill's rich history was undeserved: "It took the combined efforts of some optimistic entrepreneurs to have it built and they gave the mill more years of life than it deserved, egged on by one of them, Gerald Mussen (1872-1960), who persevered for decades."
The idea for the mill began in 1914, when he inquired about making paper with the Eucalyptus and the government came back and reported that it was impossible. In 1923, when it was discovered that it was possible, Mussen immediately jumped at the research. When the mill was established just before WWII, the population began to boom as workers flocked to the city. After the war, the mill continued to flourish and was the sole paper manufacturer in Australia until 1956 when the British company Wiggins Teape established a site in Australia. With a complex history of strikes and company politics, the Pulp has had a huge impact on Burnie and the building still exists today, although is slowly being demolished since 2010.
A few notable impacts include the Pulp Paper Trail in Burnie, which was designed to honor the factory workers who worked from 1937 to 2010. There is also a notion of "factory shame" because of the pollution and smell that it brought to the town and surrounding environment. It was known for its horrible smell in the 1960's, but has since made drastic improvements on these notorieties. Overall, this is a really interesting part of Tasmanian culture and recent history, particularly for your resident PD major. Fun pictures and links below.
Brittany Hallawell
http://www.think-tasmania.com/the-pulp-paper-trail-burnie-tasmania/
http://www.think-tasmania.com/burnie-tasmania-the-re-making-of-a-city/
https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/the-pulp-the-birth-life-and-death-of-an-industry,3522
Whoa, I had no idea you could have eucalyptus paper! Do all paper mills smell bad, or are eucalyptus paper mills just the worst? Regardless of the smell, I'll definitely be on the lookout for a cool journal made out of eucalyptus.
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