The WOLF ENVELOPE COMPANY, a pioneer in the mechanization of envelope-making, was incorporated in Cleveland in 1899. Three friends and co-equal business partners founded the Company: Alfred Wolf (1854-1928), Louis Littman (1855 -1937), and Nathan I. Dryfoos (1860-1949). Wolf Envelope products quickly became a favorite among Cleveland businesses and beyond.
For the first twenty years, the Company operated from buildings on High Street and Ontario Street. In 1919, the Company hired Christian, Schwarzenberg, and Gaede to design and build a new factory at 1749 East 22nd Street between Payne and Chester to accommodate the Company’s growing sales and production requirements. One of the first German-made rotary folding machines in the United States was installed, altering the earlier method of handmaking envelopes and permitting much greater diversification with the new machinery.
In 1913, Louis Littman’s son-in-law, Harry Affelder, a mechanical engineer, joined the Company as a superintendent. Affelder trained as a mechanical engineer and used his skills to mechanize envelopes and stationery further. He is credited with introducing seal-flap gumming machinery, adjustable die-cutting equipment, and a metal clasp machine, which became a standard for the envelope industry.
In 1922, the Company added a third floor to the East 22nd Street factory to accommodate their fast-growing business. One year later, in 1923, Wolf Envelope purchased an envelope company in Detroit, Michigan, which was later named The Wolf-Detroit Envelope Company.
In 1934, H. JACK LANG (1904-1996), founder of H. Jack Lang Company, an ad agency that became LANG, FISHER & STASHOWER, INC. in 1937, suggested the creation of a monthly publication of witty correspondence to promote the Wolf Envelope Company. The publication was called The Wolf Magazine of Letters. Lang edited the journal for over 50 years.
Harry Affelder served as president of the Envelope Manufacturers Association (EMA) for four years during WORLD WAR II, when the industry was called upon to make V-Mail envelopes for the war effort. V-mail, short for “Victory mail,” drastically reduced the space needed to transport mail, thus freeing up room for other valuable supplies. Although the V-mail system was only used between June 1942 and November 1945, over 1 billion items were processed through these means. A special form allowed letters to be photographed on microfilm, transported, reproduced, and delivered. Affelder developed methods for adapting existing machinery to make V-Mail envelopes, which enabled the industry to supply them in the extensive volume needed.
In 1946, Affelder was named President of the Company and held that position until 1956, when Alan L. Littman, the son of the co-founder, Louis Littman, succeeded him. Harry Affelder’s son, Lewis, became president of Wolf Envelope in 1968. He was also president of EMA from 1960 to 1962. The Company continued under the ownership of the Affelder family until the late 1980s when Lewis Affelder sold Wolf-Detroit to Hugh Mahler and Wolf Envelope to Howard Shaw, Harry Goodfriend (great-grandson of Louis Littman), Tom Kahn (stepson of Alan Littman) and Jeffrey Anspach (accountant and advisor to Lewis Affelder).
The Wolf Envelope factory on East 22nd was torn down and, in 2024, was a parking lot for CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY.
Jim Culley
Maynard H. Benjamin, The History of Envelopes 1840-1900, “The Wolf Envelope Company,” Envelope Manufacturers Association, 2002. PP81-82.
https://www.wsel.com/sites/default/files/uploads/pdfs/EMA_History.pdf