Title: Cantwell Printing Company Records
Inclusive Dates: 1868-1917

Creator:

• Cantwell Printing Company

Call Number: Mss 259; PH 3550

Quantity: 4.1 c.f. (6 archives boxes and 9 flat boxes) and 13 photographs (1 folder)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records of Cantwell Printing Company, a Madison, Wisconsin firm established in 1867 by M. J. Cantrwell and George P. Robinson. Included are order books, 1905-1906; a sales book, 1906-1908; journals, 1874-1906; a volume of sample printed advertisements, 1868-1882; time books, 1906-1915; ledgers, 1884-1910; a cash book, 1903-1906; and a 50th anniversary souvenir booklet, 1917. Photographs made for a fiftieth anniversary booklet document printing operations including composing and press rooms, collating and sewing, and printing equipment, 1916. Also included are images of office interiors and stockrooms. Most of the images also show company employees.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00259

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The Cantwell Printing Company was established in 1867 by M. J. Cantwell and George P. Robinson in Madison, Wisconsin. On February 17, 1870, Robinson sold his interest in the business to Cantwell and moved east. The firm was then known as the M. J. Cantwell Printing Company until 1903 when it was incorporated as the Cantwell Printing Company. In a short time the enterprise proved to be a successful one, requiring expansion of both the physical facilities and the personnel force. The improvements made included bringing such revolutionary machinery to Madison as the gas engine and the two-revolution press, and the company had the distinction of erecting the first fire-proof, concrete building in the state's capital. Such changes assured the Cantwell Printing Company of becoming one of the foremost business institutions in the Midwest at that time.

Cantwell Printing handled both large and small printing jobs, including work for national magazines such as the once well-known American Thresherman and the Gas Review, as well as the printing of personal invitations and letterheads, and the restoration of old single volumes.

At the time of his death in 1903, three of M. J. Cantwell's eight children were associated in the business: Frank W., business manager; John R., foreman of the bindery; and David B., foreman of the printing department. Frank W. was later to become president; John R., vice-president; and David B., secretary of the company.

As of December 1973, the Cantwell Printing Company is still in operation under the direction of Peter G. Langley.

The records of the Cantwell Printing Company consist of materials pertaining to the business dating from 1868 to 1917. Included are three order books, one sales book, four time books, four boxes of journals, six boxes of ledgers, one cash book, a 1917 50th Anniversary Souvenir Booklet advertising the firm, and 13 photographs.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the Cantwell Printing Company, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, December 29, 1970. Accession Number: M70-366

Processing Information

Processed by K. Weicher and Joanne Hohler, December 7, 1973.

Mss 259	Order Books
Box   1 Folder   1	#19800-20819, 1905, April-August
Box   1 Folder   2	#20820-21839, 1905, August 31 - 1906, January 3
Box   1 Folder   3	#21840-22859, 1906, January 3 - April 25
Box   1 Folder   4	Sales Book, 1906-1908
	Journals (Job work, etc.)
Box   2 Folder   1	1874, August 10 - 1877, August 13
Box   2 Folder   2	1877, August 20 - 1880, December 31
Box   2 Folder   3	1887, March 17 - 1889, February 5
Box   3 Folder   1	1890, June 4 - 1892, December 31
Box   3 Folder   2	1893, January 3 - 1895, March 30
Box   4 Folder   1	1895, April 1 - 1898, May 7
Box   4 Folder   2	1898, May 10 - 1900, May 16
Box   5 Folder   1	1902-1906
Box   6 Folder   1	Special Advertisements, 1868-1882 Note: Two letters, 1869, and a manuscript note, 1903, are included.
	Time Books
Box   6 Folder   2	D. B. Cantwell, 1906, January 6-1908, June 12 (black)
Box   6 Folder   3	J. R. Cantwell, 1906, January 6-1908, June 12 (red)
	Payroll
Box   7 Folder   1	1908, June 19 - 1912, November 29
Box   8 Folder   1	1914, January 2 - 1915, May 29
	Ledgers
Box   9 Folder   1	1884-1890
	M. J. Cantwell
Box   9 Folder   2	1890, June - 1896
Box   9 Folder   3	1895-1899
Box   10 Folder   1	1896-1899
Box   11 Folder   1	Index, 1901-1903
Box   11 Folder   2	1901-1903
Box   12 Folder   1	Index, 1903-1906
Box   12 Folder   2	1903-1906
Box   13 Folder   1	1904-1926
Box   14 Folder   1	1906-1910
Box   15 Folder   1	Cash Book, 1903-1906
Box   15 Folder   2	50th Anniversary Souvenir Booklet, 1917
PH 3550	Photographs