The Mail-Journal, Volume 12, Number 18, Milford, Kosciusko County, 28 May 1975 — Page 16

Come visit us for a * tour of our modern printing plant

Baumgartners have been in the printing business since 1939

The Baumgartners have been in the printing business since 1939 One day in the summer of that year, Arch Baumgartner, home from college during summer break, was driving an ice truck in his home town of Milford. On August 5 he found himself the young and completely inexperienced publisher of the local weekly. The Milford Mail The newspaper had come up for sale, and Mr Baumgartner grabbed the chance He had 600 subscribers and facilities for hand setting type - no linotype The former publishers. Carlyle D. Barnes and A. J. (“Jack") Forbing. helped for a few weeks, then he was on his own He learned through necessity. One of his first purchases was a single magazine Intertype which he learned to operate through trial and error. He moved the plant into a building on Main street, where it is still located today, in what was then an abandoned building which he purchased for SSOO. The year: 1940. The move is remembered as a "big job " Then came World War II and Arch Baumgartner, like many other young men of the time, was off to serve his country. He advanced to the rank of first lieutenant in the US Army. Wife Joins Business It was during this period he married Della Frauhiger of

Warsaw. She joined him in the plant's operations when they returned to Milford after the war. iVlla assumed a wide variety of responsibilities centering around bookkeeping and business management. As the newspaper progressed, additional, modem, equipment was purchased In February of 1950 they started a newspaper in Pierceton The Pierceton Press was printed at the Milford plant until June of 1971. In 1961 The Syracuse-Wawasee Journal was purchased and in February of 1962 the two papers were consolidated and The MailJournal came into being. For years the physical printing plant of The Milford Mail, now The Mail-Journal, utilized what is known as the "hot type” method of typesetting and reproduction. Before the conversion to offset printing, typesetting was divided among three Intertype machines: a single-magazine straight matter machine; a model CSM three-magazine ad machine; and a ITS automated typesetter which was installed in 1965. The plant added an electric Ludlow in 1964 with five cases of display mate for headlines and advertising material. Stereotyping, accomplished on a five column. 18 inch Nolan caster, was either type high or shell cast. A strip caster for “hot type”

I ' I sL.it READY TO WELCOME EVERYONE— Della and Arch Baumgartner, shown above at the front doors of the new. modern addition to the expanded printing plant on Milford's Main street, will be joined by their son. Ron. and daughter-in-law. Gloria, in welcoming everyone to their open house. The open house is planned for 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 31. v

composition was utilized mainly in advertising make-up. Even as late as 1966 the press room centered around a huge Miehle No. 1 flat bed press which printed four standard pages at once. The press had an attached feeder and Omaha folder, delivering about 1,500 impressions an hour. The commercial press room at that time also contained two automatic 12 x 18 Kluge platen presses, a 12 x 18 Little Giant cylinder and a handfed 10 x 15 Old Style Gordon platen press, all used for commercial printing. Practically no newsprint was kept in storage. The stockpile hardly ever exceeded a four week supply The Baumgartners* two children. Ron and Jane (Mrs. Michael Yoder of Indianapolis), grew up in and around the printing business Like many youngsters whose parents owned small businesses in the 1960's and 1960*5, Ron and Jane learned as they grew, helping where they could, taking on more responsibility as they grew older. Following World War 11, the Baumgartners moved into the apartment above the print shop, and resided there for a period of eight years. Ron was two years old at the time of their return to Milford, and Jane was born during this eight-year period. Living in such dose proximity to the shop, both youngsters got

their baptism in printer's ink at an early age. Joins Business Following his gradual ion from Indiana university in 1966. Ron joined his parents in theijr work at the printing plant. Just prior to his senior year at IU. Ron married Gloria Slabaugh of Milford. Gloria has helped in the bookkeeping department on a part-time basis since their return to Milford from Bloomington. The first step in conversion to offset printing at Milford came early in 1968. Offset printing of newspapers at that time was relatively new, its clean and dear method of reproduction, and its wider versatility caused it to sweep the newspaper industry. The change-over at Milford represented the first of the smaller printing plants to take the step. Now many papers are using offset printing for reproduction. Some have purchased their own presses. Others go to a central printing plant, like The Papers Incorporated, to have their printing done The first Goss Community offset printing press installed at Milford consisted of two unite and a folding unit, capable of printmg eight pages at a time. The third unit was installed in 1970, the fourth in 1972 and the fifth in 1973. The sixth unit and suburban folder were installed in January of this year. The press can now print a total of 24 broadsheet or 48

tabloid pages, black and white, or two separate 24 page tabloid papers can be run at the same time. Colors are also available. Other Changes Many other changes were also made through the years, prior to the latest building and remodeling program. Office space for news writing, proofreading and the bookkeeping department, has been enlarged several times. The staff has continually grown. Paper storage facilities have been built. The job shop has grown and has been re-located from the old press room into a room built especially for commercial printing. It was June 30, 1971 that the first issue of 'the paper* came off the press. It was, and is, the largest circulated publication in Kosciusko county. ‘the paper’ is a shopper that goes into every home in the county. The success of ‘the paper’ is evident in the fact a second publication was started in the Ligonier area in December of 1972. And, in April of 1973 a third edition began coverage in Elkhart county. The Papers Incorporated was formed in March 1973 with Arch Baumgartner as president, Ron Baumgartner as vice president and Della Baumgartner as secretary-treasurer. The photos in this special edition tell the rest of the story.