If success in business was measured by sheer survival, the Salinas Valley Wax Paper Co. would rank among the best.

Still thriving as a small producer of specialty papers, the company has been owned and run by the same family. Since 1928, made it through the depression, made it through drastic changes in market demand for its product, and has now carved out a niche as a small-scale supplier of diverse paper products.

“Generally, we're a family-owned business that's been through some turbulent times, but we've expanded when we needed to,” says Gaylord Nelson, 77, who stepped down as head of the business 20 years ago to let his son Charles take over the reins.

Company founders Charles Goetz and T.G. Emmons first moved their Arizona paper company to Salinas to cater to vegetable growers. The company made waxed paper to line lettuce boxes. They opened operations in a rented warehouse at the Spreckels Sugar Company. "At Spreckels there were only five people to start with," Nelson said.

But over the next few years business increased and they moved into their own plant on a three-acre plot on what is now Abbott Street. The lettuce business was booming and the company had only to keep pace with its production of wax paper.

"When we came here you could see rows of lettuce out there clear to Spreckels," Nelson said, motioning out the window of the Abbott Street plant.

Things continued to go well, and the company added asphalt laminated paper to its line of products. This was an especially big money maker during World War II. The Navy bought so much of the reinforced industrial paper that the company's paper rolls were kept running six days a week just to keep up with the orders.

But in the 1950s lettuce packing was revolutionized by vacuum cooling. It was a more efficient way for growers to package lettuce and other vegetables, and it left the company looking for a new market.

The company found it in small places. The asphalt laminated paper was sold to contractors who used it for building and construction, and to auto manufacturers for use inside car bodies. Wax paper was custom printed and sold to florists, and the company continued to think of new ways to specialize and diversify its product.

Shredded paper was sold for packing, and a strong, water-resistant paper was printed in checkers and sold as tablecloths.

Diversification has proved to be a good way out for a company too small to compete with the industry giants. It knew it couldn't take on Reynolds Wrap, but it could find a clientele too small to be served by mass production.

Salinas Valley Wax Paper Co. tries to capitalize on its small size by catering to its customer's individual needs. If a customer wants a small order right away, the company-owned shipping trucks will drop it off on the way to another delivery. “We can actually deliver five or 10 tons along the way,” Nelson said.

Nelson takes visible pride in the company he helped develop. He was hired in 1937 by Emmons, the same year the company moved to its current Abbott Street location.

Nelson remembers jumping at the chance to leave his $25 a week job as circulation manager with a local newspaper to get $125 a month as an office manager at the wax paper company. When Nelson married Emmons' daughter Virginia a few months later, he sealed the company's future as a family business.

After Goetz retired from the company, the Nelsons eventually bought out his shares of the business and have maintained sole ownership. Today Nelson is semi-retired, and his son Charles runs the company as general manager.

Although Nelson said there are no plans for big expansion, the company has been slowly getting larger. They bought an adjoining lot to spread out onto almost five acres, and new buildings and machinery have added to the company's volume.