Our Tradition of Excellence Began Over 120 Years Ago

In 1886, the forerunner of Tension Envelope opened in Kansas City, Missouri, as Berkowitz and Company. Named after its founder, William Berkowitz, the company specialized in popular advertising novelties. In 1894, the company put into operation the first envelope machine west of the Mississippi River. This was used to produce matched letterhead and envelopes, a popular new novelty at the time.

By 1901, the company began to fully concentrate on envelopes, which were in great demand. The company expanded facilities several times in the next few years to accommodate growth in the business. William Berkowitz’s two sons joined the firm in 1907, and the company's first envelope patent was issued in 1909. Sons Walter and E.B. Berkowitz assumed management of the company as the 1920s approached.

In 1921, Walter Berkowitz discovered new
high-speed envelope folding machinery in Germany. The machines were adjustable to produce a variety of sizes and styles of envelopes on the same piece of equipment, something that could not be done before. The Berkowitz Envelope Company purchased the North American patent and distribution rights and brought the equipment into the United States, where the new machinery revolutionized the envelope industry.

During the 1920s, the company's successes
led to the expansion of manufacturing and sales operations across the Midwest. In 1932, the company created the first in-house, full-time art department in the industry – established exclusively to create custom-tailored envelope designs for customers.

In 1937 the company bought a pioneer in the American envelope industry, the Tension Envelope Company of Brooklyn, New York. The Tension name came from a unique open end envelope with a button on the back and a button on the flap. An attached string was wound around the two buttons to hold the envelope closed. This device, invented by the company in 1884, held the flap and the envelope’s contents under “tension” and gave the company its name.

In 1944, all of the Berkowitz Envelope manufacturing and sales operations were consolidated under the widely-recognized name of Tension Envelope Corporation. Following are significant events in the further success and growth of the company:

1953 - A manufacturing and sales operation opened in Fort Worth, Texas.

1962 - Bert Berkley, grandson of founder William Berkowitz, became President and CEO of the company.1968 - A manufacturing and sales operation opened in the Los Angeles area.

1970 - A new manufacturing plant opened in Marysville, Kansas.

1987 - A new manufacturing plant opened in St. Clair, Pennsylvania.

1988 - Bill Berkley, great grandson of the company founder, became President and CEO. Bert Berkley continued as Chairman of the Board.

1995 - Tension Envelope acquired TransCoast Envelope of South San Francisco.

1996 - Tension expanded into the international marketplace with new affiliated manufacturing and sales operations established in Malysia and Australia.

1998 - A new affiliated manufacturing and sales operation was established in Taiwan.2003 - Tension opened a new envelope plant in ShaoXing, China.