This series documents the history of the company's applied research laboratory at Thorold, Ontario. Its most significant records are the numerous "H" and "T-178" reports that cover all aspects of pulp and paper making and demonstrate The Tribune Company's commitment to research and development in Canada. For the "H" reports, 1947-1981, see vols. 25706 to 25729. The "T-178" reports, 1949-1966, are in vols. 25729-25731. But the investment in research was not solely based on the newspaper's desire to improve the quality of the newsprint it used. In 1939, Arthur Schmon became concerned that The Tribune's isolationist editorial policy would so alienate Canadian public opinion that the company's operations would be compromised. To counter this eventuality, he undertook an accelerated research project to produce industrial alcohol from the waste liquor that was a by-product of papermaking. With the Japanese capture of the Malayan rubber plantations in 1941 -1942, the alcohol found a ready market as an ingredient in synthetic rubber. The records of the company's alcohol plant are preserved in vol. 25756 file 16 to vol. 25758 file 15, and in the alcohol files on microfilm reels 167, and 278-279. Of particular significance are the yeast and fermentation studies, and the file on the operation of alcohol plant and its bearing on operation of the sulphite plant, 1941-1944, reel 174.
Arthur Schmon used the success of the alcohol project to influence corporate diversification strategy. The alcohol research project led directly to the company becoming the world's largest supplier of artificial vanilla or vanillin. As part of the company's planning for post-war diversification, it began research into the feasibility of extracting vanillin from the waste liquor. Vanillin is produced from lignin, the binding agent that holds wood fibres together. Lignin is released from wood fibres during the production of pulp by boiling the wood in a caustic soda solution. The resulting sulphite liquor has been described as "the worst effluent of a paper [making]". By the 1920s, the Thorold mill was having problems disposing of this waste. The records reveal that by 1947 the company had patented a process to produce vanillin (see vol. 25759 file 1) and document the research and development effort that went into its production, 1944-1987 (see vols. 25759 to 25768 file 8). Manufacturing vanillin was one thing, marketing it was another. Vanillin was marketed through contracts with two of the world's largest chemical companies, Dow Chemical (vol. 25759 files 17-19 and vol. 25760 files 1-3) and Monsanto (vol. 25763 files 17-18 and vol. 25764 files 1-2). For the production and sales of vanillin, see vol. 25603 file 2. The expansion and maintenance of the Vanillin Plant can be followed in the Engineering series, vols. 25454 to vol. 25459 file 8 and vol. 25825 file 5.
