Information wanted on the American Lithographic Company

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Posted By: Joe Drouillard

Hello Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone possesses any historical information on the American Lithographic Company? This is the company that produced many of the tobacco cards that our in our pre-war collections.

I don't know if this topic has been covered on an earlier post or not. I did try a key word search on past threads, but didn't come up with anything that clearly discusses the question.

Here is what I have already learned about the company from a brief Internet search:

The company was founded by Joseph P Knapp in 1892 and quickly grew to be the largest printer in the United States (80% of the United States market).

Joseph Knapp is credited with introducing the multicolor six cylinder press (I wonder if this is the type of press used to create T-cards?).

The company was purchased by Consolidated Graphics in 1930. The company eventually was absorbed into the Crowell-Collier Publishing Company.

Famous editor and writer Edward Bok may have been briefly employed to write biographies on the backs of tobacco cards of famous personalities. At least he spoke with Knapp about the idea in the 1880s.

The company was involved in a major swindle ($100,000.00 lawsuit filed by company president William Ottman) against some folks from Great Britain in the twenties, that may have led to the company being taken over.

I'm just currious about the origin of tobacco cards and the history of the company that produced them. I also believe that there are others on this board that could add information anecdotic, apocryphal or historical that could develop into a very interesting thread of discussion. Also, perhaps, there is book published on the company or on its founder Joseph Knapp that someone may know about that they could share. I know he was also involved in wildlife preservation.

Thanks for anything that you can add to my list.

Joe