Norman Bassett, first president of Demco Education Corporation, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 7 January 1891. He studied literature and art at the University of Wisconsin, and received a B.A. in 1914. In 1931 he bought the Democrat Printing Company, a forms printing business in Madison, Wisconsin, and incorporated it as Demco Library Supplies, Inc., adding a wide variety of library related materials to the product line. In January 1972, Demco was acquired and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the George Banta Company of Menasha, Wisconsin, one of the nation's largest educational printers. Bassett retired from Demco in 1972, and became a director of Banta.
Beginning in February 1932, Demco published an advertising magazine entitled Demcourier, which was distributed to libraries across the country. From the outset, Demcourier was more than an advertising journal, as it included literary articles contributed by the magazine's chief editor, Margaret Thoma, and a special series on “American Authors as Printers” by Marjorie K. Reely. This literary aspect of the magazine was expanded in 1935 when Demcourier featured a Mark Twain centennial edition. Popular response to this issue prompted Bassett to adapt the format to a series of special issues on various American notables, with essays contributed by the person to be honored as well as other figures prominent in his or her field. The first of these issues appeared in November 1937, and was devoted to Rockwell Kent, an American artist and illustrator. Demcourier was discontinued in 1943.
