“It all starts with a log!! When we finish with that log. . . A stout pile of pallets is the final product. We started in our own woods in Northeastern Pennsylvania through our sawmills and into our assembly shops. We use everything but the bark and sawdust.
1877 – Andrew Rapp founded Rapp’s lumber mills. In 1895 – Andrew Rapp established Rapp’s basket mills to furnish baskets to the great peach growing areas of Warren and Hunterdon counties. 1905 – saw the acquisition of two veneering lathes. 1907 thru 1911 were years where much of the work at Carpentersville consisted of cutting chestnut veneer for furniture and door panels. As progress moved forward so did the Rapp’s and in 1912 ten basket stapling machines were purchased. After W.W.1 Rapp’s became the first basket manufacturer to deliver their product direct to the orchards; in a model “T” Ford. Rapp’s is the oldest fruit basket manufacturer in the U.S.A. In 1920 the present sawmill was erected near the basket factory and much of the work consisted of making crates, beer boxes and other wooden products. In 1936 Leon R. Rapp introduced and patented the “continuous stave” basket to cope with the rising cost in the basket industry. During the period of 1941 and 1945, the paper shortage had severely curtailed Coca-Cola’s packaging operation and Rapp’s were called upon to supply them with millions of “6-pack” veneer carry-cases. In 1945 Rapp’s started making pallets and skids as a sideline for some local manufacturers. Since 1952 when Rapp’s entered into an agreement with Reigel Paper Corp. the pallet operation than increased to a volume equal in proportion to 75% of their total business. Due to a critical lumber shortage, the Rapp’s purchased a sawmill on a 22-acre tract at Nicholson, Pa., in the Poconos in the year 1965. In 1967 . . . The acquisition of the property formerly known as the Phillipsburg Supply Company, at Stockton Street in Phillipsburg. The very nature of the pallet industry is one in which the customer often requires almost immediate service and the new plant afforded the Rapp’s this ability, which helped them become one of the most trusted companies in the industry.”(Easton Express Times, 1967)
Five generations of Rapp’s and counting…..