The uniface medal's obverse bears a kneeling Native American, facing left, wearing feather headdress, balancing an open box on shoulder. Around, IOWA FIBER · BOX · COMPANY · KEOKUK, IOWA · TWENTY-FIFTH · ANNIVERSARY; in truncation, STRENGTH; to left and right of figure, 1920 / 1945; signed above figure's foot, CHAMBELLAN / Sc
The Iowa Fiberbox Company did not leave a large paper-trail behind, but as far as I can tell it was started in 1920 when Corydon Rich formed a box manufacturing company so he could ship Purity Oats that were also manufactured in Keokuk. He hired James O. Hoerner to sell the boxes to other companies so economies of scale could be exploited in the manufacturing process. The box business took off. In 1966, Hoerner Boxes, Inc., as it was called by then, merged with the Waldorf Paper Products Company. By 1994, after several more mergers and buyouts, the company employed 2,200 people and had annual revenue of about $375 million, making it the fifth-largest privately-held company in Minnesota.
This very handsome uniface medal comes screwed onto a wooden paperweight. It is beautifully modeled and has all the hallmarks of one of Chambellan's better commercial medals.
I again follow Dick Johnson's reference in dating the medal to 1944 in accordance with the Medallic Art Company's records, even though the medal commemorates the anniversary in 1945.
The circular medal measures 63mm in diameter and was struck in silver-plated bronze by the Medallic Art Company of New York. No mintage is reported.
References: MACo 1944-025