THE CANADIAN PRINTER
AND PUBLISHER )
O. XX. i Ui JANtA KI 11 T A.

Making the Society Printing Department Profitable
PART I.
By John M. Imrie

N OT long ago I asked an otherwise progressive
printer in an Ontario town what policy lie
pursued in the cultivation of society printing
--calling cards, wedding invitations, announce-
ments, private correspondence paper, and similar
work. His answer was as follows: "Society print-
ing? Oh, the poor printer gets very little in that
line nowadays. It all goes to tlie engravers and rrail
order houses. What few calling card orders corne
to me I pass over to a copper-plate printer at whole-
sale rates, and pocket the retailer's comminssiol."
Enquiry among other printers-nmost of whoir
are in towns and small cities--demonstrated that
the foregoilng attitude was by no ineans an unusual
one. In inany printing offices society printing is
each year beeoming a less irmportant factor in the
operations of the plant, but the proprietors are by no
means alarmed at the situation, being apparently
content to view it with unconeern and indifference.
Yet there are more calling cards being used in
Canada to-day than at any time in the past. More
lhappy parents are to-day announcing the approach-
?ing inarriage of their daughters than ever before.
Soeiety functions of every kind are more num-
erous and their requirements in the stationery line
more exacting and costly than at any time in the
past.
tThe trouble would seerm to be that many printers,
recognizing the superiority of copper-plate work
over the ordinary style of printing for society work,
have bowed to what they considered to be the in-
evitable, and with folded hands watched complac-
ently the diversion into other channels of the work
wliich formerly was theirs. True, the printer was
for a long time handicapped for want of proper type
faces, but the type founders have to a very large
degree removed this handicap and placed the ordin-
ary printer of to-day in a position where he can
compete on an almost equal footing with the cop-
per-plate printer. I say "almost," for it must be
admitted that copper-plate work has a softness and
delicacy scarcely equalled by the ordinary printing
process, but if the printer will give to his work the
proper attention the difference between his product
and the average grade of copper-plate work will be
so slight as to be of little consequence to the ma-
jority of his customers.
An analysis of the policy of the successful cop-
per-plate printer will reveal its salient points and

show by contrast why many ordinary printers have
failed in their early attempts to meet his competi-
tion. Sueh revelation may, by inspiration, result
in renewed effort along lines which, being proper,
will achieve success.
The copper-plate printer realizes that the cus-
tomers of his society printing departmrent are people
of good taste and refinement. His business methods
in that department-the display of samples, the ad-
vertising, the selling anid the delivery-are of such
r character as to please the nost fastidious of the
feminine sex. He pays serupulous attention to the
quality of ink and paper or board used, and is quick
to detect any changes which Dame Fashion may
inaugurate in style of type, or size, finish or quality
of stock. In short, by the quality of his work and
by his whole attitude toward his customers, he im-
presses upon them delicately, yet firmly, that he is
in a position to give "the last word" on style and
quality in society stationery. With a reputation
thus established, the securing of an ever-inereasing
volume of work for this department is a compara-
tively easy matter. In this latter work he is ably
assisted by the retail booksellers and stationers, to
whom he allows a commission on orders taken.
The letterpress printer who would build up a
strong society printing department may well take
several leaves from the copper-plate printer's book.
In the first place, the quality of his work must
be above suspicion.
The letterpress printer ean secure the proper
qualities and finishes of card and paper just as
easily as can the copper-plate printer, yet too often
in the past has he adopted the "penny-wise pound-
foolish" policy of substituting therefor (either in-
tentionally or through ignorance) cheaper and poor-
er stock. The apparent saving of a few cents on an
order has given his work the stamp of mediocrity.
What is true of paper and board is equally true
of ink.
Correct type faces, styles of arrangement, and
sizes of cards or sheets must be used. A careful
study of the requirements of society printing a la
mode should be undertaken, in order that the letter-
press printer may become as much an authority on
the matter as is the average copper-plate printer. A
very wide range of type faces for society work is
provided by each type founder, and a complete series
in a number of the most fashionable of these faces

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NO. I.

VOL. XX. 'IUCUNTU, JANUAKY 1911