Manuscripts Collection
The Webb Company was founded in 1882 as the Webb Publishing Company
when Edward A. Webb, a Fargo, North Dakota newspaperman, purchased
The company moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in 1890. A book division was
created in 1894; a Winona, Minnesota newspaper entitled
In 1904 Webb was joined by two associates, Albert H. Harmon and Horace C. Klein. When Webb died in 1915, these men took control of the company and eventually passed the company ownership on to their sons, Horace D. Klein and Reuel Harmon.
The company continued to diversify and add publications, eventually
becoming one of the largest printing and publishing firms in the nation. It
purchased and merged
The company built a new plant in 1962, which consolidated its operations under one roof. Its common stock was offered to the public in 1972 and its name was shortened to Webb Company in 1973. By the late 1970s the company had expanded its operations to include four major divisions: Publishing, Creative Communications, Webb Printing Division, and Midwest Printing Company.
After 100 years of independent operation the Webb Company was purchased in November 1986 by British Printing & Communications Corp. In 1989 the firm was sold to Intertec Publishing and became Webb Division, Intertec Publishing.
Historical data was taken from the collection and from Webb Division, Intertec Publishing.
Organizational records documenting the history of a St. Paul (Minn.) printing and publishing company, which specialized in agricultural publications.
Records include correspondence, legal records (1976, 1984-1987), brochures, photographs, slides, poetry (1955-1960), press releases, bibliographies, booklets, magazine articles, newspaper clippings, and printed matter.
The records reflect the Webb Company's history from its founding by Edward A. Webb in 1882 through its sale to a British printing firm in 1986. A large portion of the collection is related to the history, management, and content of the firm's primary publication, "The Farmer" magazine.
These documents are organized into the following sections:
Accession numbers: 15,010; 15,623; 15,782
Processed by: Frank Hennessy, March 1995; Additional material cataloged by: Lara Friedman-Shedlov, September 2001
Catalog ID number: 09-00039933
This collection was formerly cataloged as P2056.
Includes biographical data related to Edward A. Webb; summaries of a series of orientation sessions describing the operation of the firm's various departments, entitled "The ABC's of Webb Publishing"; a group of papers related to the activities and history of the Agricultural Publishers Association; two newsletters covering topics of interest to Webb employees; and correspondence, photographs, a narrative history, and printed matter related to activities surrounding Webb's 1982 centennial celebration.
There is a group of correspondence and legal records related to
two legal disputes involving the company: the first resulting from an article
published in
Also included in the collection is an extensive series of
correspondence (1942-1947) between Theodor Broch, a Norwegian writer and former
mayor of the Norwegian town of Narvik, and Paul Hillestad, who was manager of
Webb at the time. The correspondence concerned publication of Broch's book,
Other papers include photographs of the Webb Publishing Company's home office, press, and bindery (1920s-1940s?) and newspaper clippings and articles pertaining to Robert Maxwell, the chairman of British Printing & Communications Corp., and the sale of the Webb Company in 1986.
Includes histories of
Other papers include staff biographies; press releases; photographs; a list of articles published by the magazine's household department; a card index of books found in the magazine's library; a booklet entitled Facts for Advertisers, which contains a classified list of the magazine's advertisers; correspondence describing the Lawton Seed Corn Tester, which was given as a premium with subscriptions in the late 1920s and early 1930s; and correspondence related to the magazine's trademark registration (1976).
There is material related to articles published in the magazine, including poetry from a column edited by Eloise Wade Hackett entitled "Songs From the Spring" (1955-1960); photocopies of articles from the magazine's agricultural careers series (1971-1973); and a group of correspondence and articles related to the potential of Jerusalem artichokes as an alcohol fuel source and the investigation of fraud allegedly being committed by AEFS Inc., an artichoke processor (1983). Background material on corn husking contests (1934-1987), combine development, and the "Farmfest" in Lake Crystal, Minnesota (1972, 1976) is also included.
The magazine's photograph file is arranged by topic and largely undated, however the bulk appear to have been taken during the first half of the twentieth century. Topics include early farming, farm machinery, livestock, and the Minnesota State Fair.