Thetford Pulp Ware Manufacturing Co. was founded in 1879. It quickly flourished, gradually increasing its range to over 150 items! The difference between paper mâché and pulp ware was that pulp ware was waterproof. The chief raw materials were wood pulp, jute bagging and other vegetable fiber and rags.

Materials were first cleaned by boiling with lime and then shredded in rag engines for two days to form a slurry with water. Most water was extracted by feeding the pulp into sieve-like formers roughly the shape of the final object. Additional water was then removed with a vacuum pump and finally, a hydraulic press squeezed out the remaining moisture. These "blanks" were placed in a drying shed for one to four weeks and when dried, felt like cardboard. They were stamped or embossed into their final shape by powerful cam-operated machines, before being soaked in linseed oil to make them water repellent. This process turned them from grey to brown after which, any decoration was added. Printed paper transfers were used for decoration or for applied advertising, and a top coat of japan or lacquer was added to make them water and acid proof.

A mill had been located at this location since the Late Saxon period. Originally the site of a cloth mill, it was converted to produce paper in the 17th century and the earliest reference to a paper-mill at Thetford was in 1735. Paper production continued throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, when the site was known as Bishop's Mill or St Audrey's Mill. In the first decade of the 19th century the Thetford Paper Mill was enlarged, covering nearly four acres, incorporating land previously known as Small Bridges Common as well as land fronting Mill Lane.

In both 1929 and 1947, the company exhibited at the British Industries Fair held at Olympia in London. Items suitable for Household, Public Institutions, Decorative or Show Purposes, included: - Basins, Tubs, Puff Bowls, Trays, Tradesmen's Show and Advertising Bowls, Flower Bowls, Vases and more. During the Second World War, supplies were restricted, so secret papers were often brought under escort from London for shredding, to make wartime products - mainly vulcanised fuel tanks for aircraft, tank and motorcycle helmets and containers.

Pulp ware manufacturing ceased in the late 1950s due mainly to the introduction of polyethylene, polypropylene and plastics.