A group of 15 issues of the York Trade Compositor, in house organ and marketing serial
York, Pennsylvania: [ York Composition Company ] 1950-1959. First Edition. A collection of 15 issues of the York Trade Compositor, an in-house organ and marketing piece for the York Composition Company, York, Pennsylvania. Each issue is 4 1/4 x 6 5/8 inches, 16 pages plus stapled illustrated wrappers. All are in near fine condition excepting the earliest issue which has a portion of the front wrapper excised. Issues include Jul 1950 (No 11, Vol 19); Jan 1953 (Vol 22, No 5) ; Feb 1953 (no vol or no indicated) ; March 1953 ; April 1953 (minor dampstaining); Sept 1953 (Vol 23, No 1); Jan 1954; Oct 1956 (Vol XXVI, No 2); June 1956 (Vol 23, No 10); March [no date] (Vol XXVI, No. 7); October [1957] (Vol XXVII, No 2); Nov 1957 (Vol XXVII, No 3); Feb [no date] Vol XXVII, No 6; April 1959 (Vol XXVII, No 8); August [no date] (Vol XXVII, No 12). Near Fine. Wraps. [27559]
These are interesting pamphlets. They serve many apparent purposes - indirect sales training (talking about what works best and how to increase income), political statements (commentary both on current events and pet peeves), and of course as an example of the kind of work that the York Composition Company could do. On the back of most issues, Phil Mann (the founder) provides some commentary generally intended to put the company in a fine light versus current issues. In one issue there are apologies that they cannot send out as many copies as are being requested (whether a fact or an example of good salesmanship is unclear). These are not often seen in the market, and OCLC shows only a half dozen holdings of partial sets.
In 1915, "an ambitious young fellow by the name of Philip P. Mann decided to go into business for himself. The business was that of setting type for those in the printing industry. Thus the York Composition Company was started with one Intertype machine in a small shop on Court Avenue. Prior to 1915, Phil Mann learned his trade at the York Dispatch and gained additional experience working for the York Printing Compahy and the Baltimore Sun. As the business grew, additional equipment in- cluding another Intertype machine was purchased. Then Mr. Mann purchased the Hubley Printing Com- pany and operated the two businesses successfully until 1928 when a fire destroyed the building he occupied. In a short time the present building was completed at Bierman and Rose Avenues and when it was ready for occupancy the young and now prosperous owner merged the two companies to form the pres- ent York Composition Company. Today, this energetic company operates a com- plete printing service for its many clients. These are located all along the Atlantic Coast and as far west as Chicago. Forty-five years of constant progress is not a slogan, but an actual fact. The York Composition has the finest typesetting facilities to be found in Central Pennsylvania. In addition, it has full printing equipment, so that the craftsmen employed in this splendid plant can and do take a piece of printing from its very conception and see it through until it is in the hands of the United States Post-Office. Here the idea is conceived, planned, written, designed, printed and bound all under one large roof."
Source: “The story of a dynamic community”, York, Pennsylvania:York Chamber of Commerce, 1946, by BETTY PECKHAM
Price: $375.00