The O-P Craft Company was organized in November, 1929,
with these officers: Earle F. Opie, president and general manager; Leland
Spore, vice-president; Charles E. Frohman, secretary; and Albert L. Opie,
treasurer. In the early years, the company was located in the 600 block of Hancock
Street, and made school supplies. The company logo contained the letters O and
P, and looked like a person holding up a hand.
In the 1932 Sandusky City Directory, Earle F. Opie was
also listed as the educational manager of the American Crayon Company. By 1935
the O-P Craft Company had moved to 161 E. Water Street. In 1946, the company announced
plans to move to a new building in the 400 block of Warren Street.
Catalog No.
57 of the O-P Craft Company featured products that designed for consumers to
decorate themselves, such as boxes, frames, buttons, relish trays, bookends and
other decorative items. The basswood hinged lid boxes were a popular item.
Pictured below are some hinged boxes from a 1976 O-P Craft catalog.
In this undated advertisement from The N.O.W. Scene,
Strickfaden Nursery had a craft shop that carried decoupage craft items with
the raw materials supplied by O-P Craft Company.
Bill Opie, the son of Albert L. Opie, eventually took
over the business. He expanded the company into plastics. In the early 1980s,
O-P Craft Co. became known as Laffer Industries. Laffer Industries later became
FormPac. In 1996, FormPac was acquired by Tuscarora, Inc. In 2003, Tuscarora
closed its Sandusky plant.
