Scott Paper Company
A historic American paper-products manufacturer whose sanitary-tissue brands continued under Kimberly-Clark after its 1995 merger.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Scott Paper Company was an American manufacturer and marketer of paper and sanitary-tissue products founded in Philadelphia in 1879 by brothers E. Irvin Scott and Clarence Scott. The company became one of the most important tissue-product businesses in the United States and developed a portfolio spanning toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissues, baby wipes, commercial tissue products, pulp, and paper used in printing and publishing. Its best-known consumer names included Scott Tissue, Cottonelle, Baby Fresh, Scottex, and Viva. Scott is commonly associated with the early commercialization of toilet paper sold on rolls. The company expanded beyond toilet paper during the twentieth century, beginning paper-towel marketing in 1907 and entering paper tissues in the 1930s. Its growth depended not only on consumer branding but also on vertical integration into pulp, timberlands, and paper mills. A 1927 acquisition of a pulp mill in Nova Scotia began a long sequence of industrial expansion. Scott later worked with The Mead Corporation to form Brunswick Pulp & Paper Company in 1936, using a Georgia pulp mill to supply both businesses. Further acquisitions and combinations gave Scott access to mills and timber resources in New York, Wisconsin, Washington, Alabama, and Maine. The company was also notable for aggressive, sometimes controversial advertising. Campaigns associated with the Scott name used dramatic health and hygiene claims to encourage consumers to replace inexpensive or harsh toilet paper with Scott products. Advertising in the 1930s included warnings about discomfort and provocative political language, reflecting the hard-selling style used by the company during that period. This approach helped make toilet tissue a branded consumer category rather than an undifferentiated household staple, although some advertisements are now viewed as alarmist and socially insensitive. For much of the twentieth century, Scott operated as a diversified paper company. In addition to consumer and commercial sanitary products, it owned businesses involved in printing and publishing papers. In December 1994, shortly before its combination with Kimberly-Clark, Scott sold its wholly owned S.D. Warren subsidiary and related printing and publishing papers operations for approximately $1.6 billion. The divestiture sharpened the company's focus on tissue and other consumer and commercial paper products. Scott's consumer and commercial operations generated approximately $3.6 billion in consolidated sales in 1994 and operated in 22 countries, according to contemporary reference material. In 1995, Scott Paper merged with Kimberly-Clark. The combined company adopted the Kimberly-Clark name, while many Scott product names remained in the marketplace as brands. Scott Paper Limited in Canada was sold separately and became part of Kruger Inc. Other assets and brands were divested at different times, including Baby Fresh, which was sold to Procter & Gamble, and the United States Scotties facial-tissue business, which was sold to Irving Tissue. The historic Scott Paper Company therefore ceased to exist as an independent corporation, but Scott continues as a Kimberly-Clark brand family in tissue and related paper products.
History
Scott Paper Company originated in Philadelphia in 1879, when brothers E. Irvin Scott and Clarence Scott established the business that would become one of the leading American paper-products manufacturers. The company is frequently credited with being among the first to market toilet paper on rolls, an innovation that helped transform a basic sanitary material into a packaged, branded consumer product. Scott subsequently broadened its offering: it began marketing paper towels in 1907 and entered the paper-tissue market during the 1930s. Expansion during the twentieth century combined product innovation, consumer marketing, and control over industrial inputs. In 1927, Scott purchased a pulp mill in Nova Scotia, beginning a long period of acquisitions involving mills, pulp capacity, and timber resources. In 1936, Scott joined with The Mead Corporation to form Brunswick Pulp & Paper Company. The new company used a Georgia pulp mill to supply both Mead and Scott. Scott later acquired or combined with businesses connected to mills and timberlands in New York, Wisconsin, Washington, Alabama, and Maine. During the 1950s, mergers with Soundview Pulp Company and Hollingsworth & Whitney Company expanded its manufacturing and resource base. The company's consumer success was supported by highly assertive advertising. Arthur Scott, the son of E. Irvin Scott, was associated with a hard-sell promotional style that used hygiene and health warnings to differentiate Scott toilet paper from cheaper alternatives. Some 1930s advertisements warned that rough toilet paper could cause painful physical problems, while a 1936 advertisement used the provocative question, “Is your washroom breeding Bolsheviks?” to suggest that poor workplace sanitation could encourage political discontent. These advertisements illustrate both Scott's willingness to create a strong product narrative and the limitations of period advertising standards. Scott was not limited to household tissue. It operated consumer and commercial sanitary-product businesses and also owned printing and publishing paper operations. Its brands included Scott Tissue, Cottonelle, Baby Fresh, Scottex, and Viva. By 1994, the company operated in 22 countries and reported approximately $3.6 billion in consolidated sales from consumer and commercial products. In December of that year, Scott sold its S.D. Warren subsidiary, which comprised its printing and publishing papers business, for approximately $1.6 billion. The transaction reduced the company's exposure to that sector before its combination with Kimberly-Clark. In 1995, Scott Paper merged with Kimberly-Clark Corporation. The surviving company used the Kimberly-Clark name, ending Scott's existence as an independent corporate entity while retaining Scott and other Scott-originated product names. The Canadian subsidiary, Scott Paper Limited, was sold and became part of Kruger Inc. Additional brand changes followed: Procter & Gamble acquired Baby Fresh, and the United States Scotties facial-tissue brand was sold to Irving Tissue. Cut-Rite, a waxed-paper brand associated with Scott, had previously been sold to Reynolds Metals in 1986. For many years Scott's headquarters occupied the Scott Plaza complex, later known as International Plaza, in Tinicum Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in the Greater Philadelphia area. The complex consisted of Plaza I, Plaza II, and Plaza III; Plaza I was completed in 1961 and Plaza III in 1969. Although the company disappeared as a standalone corporation after the Kimberly-Clark merger, its principal tissue brands and the Scott name continued in consumer and commercial paper-product markets.
- 1995
Scott merges with Kimberly-Clark
[1]The independent Scott Paper Company ends through a merger with Kimberly-Clark, which retains several Scott product names.
- 1994
S.D. Warren is sold
[1]Scott sells its printing and publishing paper business, operated through S.D. Warren, for approximately $1.6 billion.
- 1986
Cut-Rite is sold to Reynolds Metals
[1]Scott divests the Cut-Rite waxed-paper brand.
- 1969
Plaza III is completed
[1]The third building of the company's Pennsylvania headquarters complex is completed.
- 1961
Scott Plaza headquarters complex begins operation
[1]The first building of Scott's headquarters complex in Tinicum Township, Pennsylvania, is completed.
- 1936
Brunswick Pulp & Paper Company is formed
[1]Scott joins with The Mead Corporation to create Brunswick Pulp & Paper Company and share pulp capacity.
- 1936
Scott uses provocative hygiene advertising
[1]The company runs strongly worded advertisements warning consumers about inferior toilet paper and sanitation conditions.
- 1927
Scott acquires a Nova Scotian pulp mill
[1]The acquisition begins a prolonged period of vertical integration and industrial expansion.
- 1907
Paper-towel marketing begins
[1]Scott expands beyond toilet tissue by marketing paper towels.
- 1879
Scott Paper Company is founded in Philadelphia
[1]E. Irvin Scott and Clarence Scott establish the company that would become Scott Paper Company.
Products and positioning
Mass-market paper and sanitary-tissue products emphasizing practical household and institutional use, broad distribution, and value-oriented branding.
Toilet tissue
Scott Tissue
Scott Tissue was the company's core toilet-paper offering and one of the product names most closely associated with Scott's early role in selling toilet paper on rolls. It represented the company's value-oriented approach to everyday sanitary paper and continued as a Scott-branded product line after the Kimberly-Clark merger.
Toilet tissue
Cottonelle
Cottonelle was a branded bathroom-tissue line within Scott's consumer portfolio. It helped extend the company beyond its original Scott Tissue identity by offering a distinct consumer name for toilet paper and related bathroom products. The brand remained associated with Kimberly-Clark after the 1995 merger.
Paper towels
Viva
Viva was a Scott paper-towel brand serving household cleaning and wiping uses. It formed part of the company's broader sanitary-paper portfolio, which included both consumer products and commercial tissue offerings. The name was among the Scott brands maintained after the Kimberly-Clark combination.
Sanitary tissue
Scottex
Scottex was one of the branded sanitary-tissue names marketed by Scott in its international portfolio. Its inclusion reflected the company's operations across multiple countries and its use of different brand identities for regional tissue markets.
Baby wipes
Baby Fresh
Baby Fresh was Scott's baby-wipes brand. It was not retained by Kimberly-Clark as part of the post-merger brand portfolio: Procter & Gamble acquired the brand, which was subsequently marketed under the Pampers umbrella.
Marketing campaigns
- 1936Scott hard-sell toilet-paper advertising
United States
Scott used highly dramatic magazine advertising to distinguish its toilet paper from cheaper products. The advertisements invoked physical discomfort, workplace hygiene, and even anti-Communist rhetoric to make sanitation a reason to prefer Scott.
Outcome. The campaigns became examples of the company's distinctive twentieth-century advertising style and of early efforts to create consumer differentiation in toilet tissue.
Brand decisions
1995
Merger with Kimberly-ClarkM&ABackground
Scott remained a major tissue and paper-products company, but its independent corporate identity ended through a combination with Kimberly-Clark.
Action taken
Scott merged with Kimberly-Clark, with the combined company operating under the Kimberly-Clark name.
Aftermath
Scott continued as a product and brand identity, while several assets and brands were separately divested, including Baby Fresh and the United States Scotties business.
1994
Sale of S.D. Warren and the printing-paper businessStrategyBackground
Scott operated both consumer and commercial sanitary-product businesses and printing and publishing paper operations through its S.D. Warren subsidiary.
Action taken
The company sold S.D. Warren and the associated printing and publishing papers business for approximately $1.6 billion.
Aftermath
The divestiture preceded Scott's merger with Kimberly-Clark and narrowed the company's business mix.
Sale proceeds. $1.6 billion (December 1994)
1986
Divestiture of Cut-RiteM&ABackground
Scott owned the Cut-Rite waxed-paper brand as part of a portfolio broader than sanitary tissue.
Action taken
Scott sold Cut-Rite to Reynolds Metals.
Aftermath
The sale reduced Scott's holdings outside its principal paper and tissue businesses.
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