American Lithographic Company (1892 - 1929)

The American Lithographic Company (1892 - 1929) was a New York City printing concern active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is considered the first American printing conglomerate. American Lithographic was formed when Joseph Palmer Knapp (1864 - 1951) of the publishing houses Sarony, Major, and Knapp, Major and Knapp, and Knapp and Company, launched a bold plan to consolidate American lithographic printing under one brand. Leveraging his enormous inherited wealth (is father, Joseph Fairchild Knapp (1832 - 1891), was the major shareholder in the Metropolitan Insurance Company), Palmer Knapp consolidated multiple smaller presses, including George S. Harris and Sons, Heppenheimer's and Sons, the Donaldson Brothers Company, the Giles Company, Eddy and Calaus, Witsch and Schmitt, and Schumacher and Ettinger. The consolidation was a hedge to control the lucrative cigar label printing industry. By 1890, prices for color lithography had fallen below sustainable levels due to both the high expense of producing multiple separate stones (one for each color) and favorable manufacturer terms on the purchase of lithographic equipment. This created a highly competitive market, pushing printing prices below cost and driving many smaller companies out of business. By consolidating American lithographic presses under one brand, Knapp hoped to restore industry stability. Initially, the many companies that entered the American Lithographic Company continued to work separately, but by 1900, Knapp centralized production in one large New York City facility. The American Lithographic Company became a major force in American printing, controlling about 75% of the American market for printed graphics. The firm began to decline in the early 20th century when cheaper halftone photographic processes rose to dominate the market. At the same time, demand for fruit and cigar labels, the mainstay of American Lithographic, began to decline. In 1929, the firm was sold to the United States Printing and Lithographic Company, which in 1930 liquidated the cigar label business to Consolidated Lithographing.