TV show shines light on former Dixie Cup factory

Television is shining a light this month on the rusted, derelict hulk that is the former Dixie Cup plant in Wilson.

The Discovery channel aired a segment on the plant Sept. 5 during: “Mysteries of the Abandoned: Hidden America,” according to Joseph Reibman, longtime partner and developer of the century-old plant that stopped making the popular Dixie cup products in the early 1980s.

Reibman said a London production company filmed inside and outside the manufacturing facility on South 24th Street last fall. The segment includes Reibman and a longtime Dixie employee, Bill Adams of Bethlehem Township, discussing the plant. It also features historical footage and details about how the plant wound up settling in the Easton area during the early 20th century.

Reibman, a Salisbury Township lawyer who grew up in Easton, said TV officials told him he could not publicly divulge anything about the show until after it ran.

Discovery spokesperson Michelle DiMartino said the segment was scheduled to air again 11 p.m. Tuesday and 1 p.m. Sept. 19. In addition, the show can be seen via go.discovery.com online. Go to Season 2 and Episode 2.

The segment credits the National Canal Museum and Lafayette College for assistance. Both have archival information on the local plant.

Reibman and a group of partners under the name Wilsonpark Ltd. acquired Dixie Cup about 40 years ago, around the time its corporate owners moved operations to Forks Township.

The Wilson property, which opened in the 1920s to manufacture Dixie products, has sat unused for manufacturing for four decades. During that time Reibman rented space to other businesses. Much of the industrial campus remained vacant, a shell overlooking South 25th and Butler streets. It features a large, rusted Dixie cup atop the building that is visible to motorists on Route 22.

In recent weeks, New York City commercial real estate company Skyline Development proposed building more than 400 apartments in the building. No specific closing date has been set, Reibman said Monday.