By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
“The envelope, please.” A hush falls over the audience at the People’s Choice Awards as the emcee breaks the wax seal on the envelope containing the names of the winners. Where do you suppose that wax seal came from? Would you believe, from a small town in the middle of Kansas?
Kim Ellenz is the co-owner of Old School Seals, the company which produced the wax seals that would have gone on the award envelopes. Kim and her husband Daron grew up at Tipton, Kansas. She worked in banking and insurance, while Daron is an electrician and teaches electricity at the technical college in Beloit.
Kim and Daron are friends with John and Dena Stultz in Ellsworth. When it was time for Dena’s birthday, John came up with a creative idea for a gift. Using his father-in-law’s computer-controlled milling machine, John milled a personalized wax stamp for her.
Dena loved the gift. When they ordered sealing wax for it, the wax supplier asked where he got the stamp. When he explained that he made it himself, the supplier was astounded and said, “There’s a real need for people who have the ability to do these designs.”
So John and Dena started designing and marketing these stamps and seals. They set up shop in an old school building. Friends Kim and Daron Ellenz came to visit. They were so impressed that Kim told her husband, “I would love to do that.” A few years later when John and Dena had a baby and were ready to share the business, Kim’s wish came true.
Kim and Daron moved the business to their hometown of Tipton. It is called Old School Seals, based on both the old building where the business began and the “old school” practice of sealing envelopes with a wax seal.
Wax seals and the related metal stamps are the primary products of Old School Seals. The company makes seals in traditional wax as well as a peel-and-stick form, and offers sealing wax and other accessories. Customers can custom order seals with a particular initial, monogram, or other design, or a metal stamp to make their own.
The metal stamps are produced using a computer-controlled milling machine, while the wax stamps are produced by machine and by hand. In a year, they produce well over 100,000 wax seals.
So what does a person do with wax seals? After all, didn’t the custom of sealing envelopes with wax seals go out of fashion a couple of hundred years ago? Yes, wax seals are unusual, but perhaps that is what makes them so distinctive.
Many people are using them as special accents on wedding invitations or gifts. They have appeared on Ralph Lauren products, Disney promotions, Ivana Trump’s wedding invitations, and as labels on Buccella wines from the Napa Valley of California. Wow. On Kim’s first day at work, she produced seals to go on the award envelopes at the People’s Choice awards – which unfortunately were cancelled due to the Hollywood writer’s strike. For President Obama’s inauguration, a company created a commemorative box of chocolates and had Old School Seals custom design and produce a wax seal to go on the gift box. The market for these products is primarily on the East and West coast, but they have gone as far away as Thailand.
Notably, this is entirely an Internet-based business. There is no storefront retail trade. On the Old School Seals website, customers can place and track orders. Products are shipped daily on UPS. From the customer’s standpoint, this business could be virtually anywhere. Remarkably, it is located in the rural community of Tipton, Kansas, population 240 people. Now, that’s rural. For more information, go to www.oldschoolseals.com.
“The envelope, please.” As the emcee prepares to announce the award winner, he breaks the wax seal that was produced all the way out in Kansas. We salute Kim and Daron Ellenz, John and Dena Stultz, and all those involved with Old School Seals for making a difference with their entrepreneurship and innovation. This type of spirit can help make rural Kansas the winner.
------------------------------------------------
The mission of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is to enhance rural development by helping rural people help themselves. The Kansas Profile radio series and columns are produced with assistance from the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications News Unit. A photo of Ron Wilson is available at http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/news/sty/RonWilson.htm. Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/huckboyd/.
-30-
