Detroit Publishing Company

The Detroit Publishing Company was an American photographic publishing firm best known for its large assortment of photochrom color postcards.

A photochrom postcard of Mulberry Street in New York City by the Detroit Photographic Co., c.1900

History

A restored photochrom print of Hotel del Coronado in Coronado, California, developed from a photograph by William Henry Jackson, c.1900

The Detroit Publishing Company was started by publisher William A. Livingstone and photographer Edwin H. Husher in the late 19th century as the Detroit Photographic Company, it later became The Detroit Photochrom Company, and it was not until 1905 that the company called itself the Detroit Publishing Company.

The company acquired rights to a color printing process developed by Hans Jakob Schmid of Orell Fussli & Company of Switzerland called Photochrom. Photochrom allowed for the company to mass market postcards and other materials in color. The Detroit Publishing Company started to market this in 1907 under the name "photostint."[1]

By the time of World War I, the company faced declining sales both due to the war economy and the competition from cheaper, more advanced printing methods. The company declared bankruptcy in 1924 and was liquidated in 1932.

William Henry Jackson

The best-known photographer for the company was William Henry Jackson, who joined the company in 1897. He became the plant manager in 1903, and in 1905 the company changed its name.

References

  1. "MetroPostcard Glossary of Postcard Terms P". www.metropostcard.com. Retrieved 2020-09-07.

Further reading

Library collections

Most of the existing negatives and prints are now housed by the United States Library of Congress, which received them via the Edison Institute and the Colorado Historical Society in 1949. Most images are visible in digital form at the Library of Congress Web site.

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