Printers For 75 Years
Starling out in 1871. this Raloigli establish¬
ment has bec»n doing business ever since
anil is now recognized as one of the greatest
printing establishments in the South.
MORE than thirteen years
ago, Edwards & Broughton,
well - known printing firm
of Raleigh, took over the con¬
tract of printing The State maga¬
zine. They’ve been doing it ever
since.
Chances are that the managers
of the business accepted the job
with some degree of trepidation.
Magazines of this type had been
started before and hadn’t turned
out very well. Edwards & Brough¬
ton stood a mighty good chance
of being left holding the bag.
However, things didn’t turn out
that way and, at the end of thirteen
years, the magazine seems to be
going along nicely and the same
can certainly be said of the print¬
ing firm also.
Thirteen years, however, does
not represent the age of Edwards
& Broughton Co. Not by a long
shot. The firm this fall is cele¬
brating its 75th anniversary.
In this connection you might be
interested that the company is pub¬
lishing a most interesting 325 page
book setting forth the history of
printing in North Carolina, begin¬
ning with the first printing press
set up in North Carolina and fol¬
lowing the progress of the art down
to the present day.
Just pause for a moment and see
how many business concerns you
know of in your town that have
been in business for three-fourths
of a century.
CONGRA TULA TIOXS
to
Edwards
«X*
Broughton Co.
on their
75th ANNIVERSARY
J. L. SHOEMAKER b CO.
Leather and Book Binders Moterial
PHILADELPHIA 6. PA.
The list, on a state-wide basis, is
a very small one.
And so, in connection with this
important milestone in the exist¬
ence of Edwards & Broughton Co.,
let’s go back into the past for a
few minutes and look into the
birth, the growth and the develop¬
ment of the business.
In the summer of 1871, the print¬
ing industry in Raleigh was in a
low state. Much of the work was
going to northern houses which, it
was believed, could do better print¬
ing in shorter time and for less
money.
It was in the face of such con¬
dition that two young printers of
Raleigh. Cornelius Bryant Edwards
and Needham Bryant Broughton,
ventured to set up a printing ofiice
which, from the very first, they
aspired to make of such excellence
as to render it unnecessary for the
people of North Carolina to go out
of the state for the best of their
printing. Both were experts at
their trade. They worked hard and
it wasn’t long before the business
began to show a profit. Before the
end of their first year they had
mode considerable improvement in
equipment and had one of the most
complete printing establishments
in the South. They were prepared
to print all manner of “catalogs,
pamphlets, circulars, letterheads,
billheads and fancy work.”
In their first year the company
began to print the annual minutes
of Baptist associations and before
the end of the century they were
doing this printing for the greater
number of the 50 or 60 associations
of the state. They also began the
Sinting of the annual catalog of
ake Forest College which has
been continued until the present
time. Various other publications
were added to the list in increasing
number.
In 1873 Edwards. Broughton and
Company joined in a partnership
with the Biblical Recorder, "the
organ of the North Carolina Bap¬
tists." and this partnership existed
for many years. A sizable amount
of revenue also began coming in
from various departments of State
government. In less than a year
they had done one job of binding
152 volumes of House and Senate
journals for the State Library, for
which as shown in the auditor's
report they received S912.00.
After the enlargement of their
plant in 1873 and the installation
of a good book bindery, they were
able to do a superior class of work
in the printing and binding of
books and pamphlets. For some
years, they boasted the only real
book press in the state and the
best bindery. The two chief
customers of this department of the
business were the State of North
Carolina and religious and fra¬
ternal organizations. The presses
also were kept busy with the pub¬
lications of college and school cata¬
logs. annuals of conventions and
conferences, addresses on special
occasions and historical and bio¬
graphical sketches. Many law
books also were produced.
In spite of the financial depres¬
sion of the decade 1890-1900 the
company continued to prosper and
make normal progress, maintaining
the lead it had already gained
among the printing establishments
of the state. It was a well-ordered
business and to this fact owed
ПО
little of its success. Mr. Edwards
had charge of the shop. Mr.
Broughton the office. In those days
nothing was known about the 8-
hour day.
In 1906 the business of flic part¬
nership Edwards and Broughton
May ire extend our sincere
congratulations to the
Eil wards & Broughton Co.
on the occasion of their
Seven
/у-
fi ft h A n n i versary
C. Gordon Brightman
JAHN & OLLIER
ENGRAVING CO.
817 W. Washington Boulcrord
Chicago 7, Illinois
THE STATE.
Остов™
19. 1946
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