User:Coffeeandcrumbs/Strobridge Lithographing Company

Strobridge Lithographing Company was a maker of advertisement posters and lithographs founded in 1847.

History
The company was founded by engraver Elijah C. Middleton in 1847 as a book and stationery store that specialized in steel and copperplate engravings. W. R. Wallace, a lithographer, and Hines Strobride, a bookseller, joined the enterprise as partners in 1854. The company became known as Middleton, Wallace and Company. Wallace left the firm in 1858 and the company was subsequently known as Middleton, Strobridge and Company. The company was initially focused on producing stationery but eventually began producing calendars, maps, portraits, and posters. It gained a competitive advantage by the early 1860s when it began producing color prints in six to eight colors.

After the American Civil War, Strobridge acquired full ownership from his partners and incorporated the company as the Strobridge Lithographing Company in 1867. The following year, it was formed into a joint stock company, with William Sumner as president and Strobridge as manager. By the 1880s, the company was nationally recognized—one of four major lithography companies which were all located in the Cincinnati area. The company's lithographs became a popular method of advertisement for circuses and theaters.

Strobridge built the company's first factory in 1884 on the Miami–Erie Canal in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine. The building burned down on December 1, 1887, causing losses estimated at $300,000 which was recouped in part by an insurance reimbursement of $146,385.90. At the time, the company employed 125 people. A significant amount of print material for the winter theatrical season was in the building and destroyed during the fire, leaving many theatres without billing material for the season. Lithographic stones damaged in the fire were used as fill for the 1895 renovation of the Cincinnati Music Hall and discovered in 2018 during a modern renovation of the historic venue.

Following the fire, the company immediately moved its operations to 258 Race Street at what used to be the building of the Russell & Morgan Printing Co.

In late 1925, the company acquired the Henderson Lithographing Company, based in the Norwood area of Cincinnati, from Minto L. Henderson. The merger represented the combination of two of the largest lithographing firms in the country. At this point, the company was led by Nelson W. Strobridge as president, W. H. Merten as vice-president and treasurer, and W. M. Strobridge as secretary.

After World War II, the market for circus posters dwindled, and the company shifted its focus to movie posters. The last Strobridge circus poster was printed in 1954 and remained in use by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus until 1956. Strobridge Lithographing Company was sold to H.S. Crocker Co. in 1961. The company closed a decade later.

Works
1884 Cincinnati Courthouse riot by J. A. Knapp, published in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly.

By the end of 19th century, Strobridge Lithographing Company had become know as North America's largest producer of posters for circus, threater and magic shows.