Wikipedia Entry - Kelsey Printing Company

The Kelsey Press Company was started in Meridian Connecticut by William A. Kelsey in 1872. The first press was designed by William A. Kelsey himself with the help of Gamaliel Snow, and was first advertised in Youth’s Companion for December 19, 1872.

Advertisement from December of 1872 in Youth's Companion.

Kelsey made the mistake of advertising a product that he had yet to manufacture and the original press design turned out to be a design that didn’t work.

Although his first press design failed to be a workable press, he created a new design for a 3”x5” press, named the Exclesior, which subsequently sold for $5 per unit. Because of the small size of the press and its low cost, it became a popular product for use in homes and offices rather than in large printing operations and has been cited as a factor in the rise of amateur journalism. Kelsey advertised the unit as a product for young boys and entrepreneurs which became his signature advertising ploy.

Kelsey Company Advertisement 1938

The first Excelsior Presses were produced by E.M Lockwood on contract in his own lawnmower sharpening shop and then in the factory Kelsey for production in 1876. His first press was inked by hand but was made self-inking in 1875. The company quickly grew due to the demand for personal presses, and because the Kelsey Press Company also supplied its customers with other printing supplies such as cards, ink, and type.

The company became incorporated in 1905 and through its success managed to beat out or purchase many of its competitors. One competitor in particular was the owner of the first building that the Kelsey Press Company leased for its offices, James Cook. When Cook realized the success that William Kelsey was having in the business of producing personal table top presses, he tried his hand at the same business, but Kelsey managed to beat him out and eventually bought J. Cook and Company. Below is an excerpt from William A. Kelsey regarding his competition that clearly shows the contempt he had for Cook.

“It having come to our notice that J. Cook (and Co), envious of the business success of our establishment, and aping its mode of business, has endeavored to steal some of our customers by offering certain articles, purporting to be put up like ours, at a price less than ours. Lest some be misled we give notice that We Will Fill Orders For Anything This Party Offers, Or Ever May Offer Or Advertise, At Five Per Cent Less Than His Prices... We make this offer because of the despicable character of the competition we propose to Kill. Healthy competition we welcome, but the other kind we mean to Fight till a different course is adopted than aping our plans Entirely.” (Connecticut Advertiser, May 1877)

The Kelsey Press Company produced many models of presses during its 120 years. Some of the models are the Junior (2x3”), the 3x5 Excelsior and 3x5 Excelsior Model “N”, 5x8 Excelsior and 5x8 "Victor" models, The 6x10 Excelsior, 9x13 Excelsior, and the 7x11 "Star" press.

The company continued manufacturing presses of all sizes until it succumbed to the waning demand for personal presses and had to close its doors in 1993.

The Excelsior press had its hand in building printing companies for 120 years, and is now a sought after antique for collectors around the world. There are many stories of how the Excelsior press was the first press owned by the starters of many printing companies still in existence today.

Many collectors still buy, sell and use the Excelsior presses today.

Listing of Officers at the time of incorporation - Kelsey Press Company, 1905
Name	Title	Photo
William A. Kelsey	President
F.C. Edgerton	Vice-President
F.L. Huntington	Treasurer & Superintendent

Citations:

Gillespie, Charles Bancroft. An Historic Record And Pictorial Description of the Town of Meriden, Connecticut: And Men Who Have Made It... A Century of Meriden "The Silver City.". Meriden, Conn.: Journal Publishing Co., 1906. Pages 61-63.

Harris, Elizabeth M. Personal Impressions: The Small Printing Press in Nineteenth-century America. David R. Godine Publisher, 2004.

Web Sources:

excelsiorpress.org/kelsey.html

http://users.bestweb.net/~bpress/res/art/kelsey1.html

http://www.thefossils.org/horvat/aj/lowcostpress.htm


The photos used in this posting are considered public domain with the exception of the first image listed.  The image was used in the book Personal Impressions by Elizabeth Harris.  If I were to attempt to make this a Wikipedia.org entry I would seek out permission from the publishers of the books in question in order to use the images.