Walsworth Publishing Company is a

family-owned A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...

publishing company based out of

Marceline, Missouri Marceline is a city in Chariton and Linn counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 2,123 at the 2020 census. History Marceline was laid out in 1887, and named after the wife of a railroad man. A post office called Marceline has ...

. Walsworth produces catalogs and periodicals, and is the only American- and family-owned publisher of

yearbook A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...

s. It was started in 1937 by brothers William, Edward, and Don Walsworth. The current CEO of the company is Don's son, Don O. Walsworth, and the current president is his grandson Don Walsworth. The company operates from administrative offices and printing and binding facilities in Marceline, Missouri. Walsworth owns specialty book publisher Donning Company Publishers and The Ovid Bell Press in

Fulton, Missouri Fulton is the largest city in and the county seat of Callaway County, Missouri, United States. Located about northeast of Jefferson City and the Missouri River and east of Columbia, the city is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri, Metropolita ...

, a printer of journals and magazines.

Company history

Walsworth Publishing Company is among the 35 largest printing companies in the United States. It is headquartered in Marceline, Missouri. In 1937, Don Walsworth settled in Marceline to print

playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's pr ...

s with a borrowed

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

and a

mimeograph A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator) is a low-cost duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called mimeography, and a copy made by the pro ...

machine. Soon the product line expanded to include

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cour ...

s and, following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, memorial books to honor those who had served. In 1947, Walworth began to produce yearbooks. In 1970, the commercial printing division was established to balance the cyclical yearbook production schedule, adding

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...

s, catalogs,

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

s and other specialty publications to the Walsworth line. Walsworth is still a family-owned company that employs more than 1,250 people worldwide. Over 675 employees have attained Master Printer of America status. The company operates from administrative offices and printing and binding facilities in Marceline, Missouri, a

prepress Prepress is the term used in the Printing and Publishing industries for the processes and procedures that occur between the creation of a print layout and the final printing. The prepress process includes the preparation of artwork for press, media ...

facility in

Brookfield, Missouri Brookfield is a city in Linn County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,111 at the 2020 census. History Brookfield was surveyed in 1859 by John Wood Brooks, a native of Boston. John Wood Brooks is further remembered by the names of f ...

, a sales and marketing office in

Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As o ...

, and a printing facility in

St. Joseph, Michigan St. Joseph, colloquially known as St. Joe, is a city and the county seat of Berrien County, Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 8,365. It lies on the shore o ...

. Additionally, Walsworth owns the Donning Company Publishers in

Virginia Beach, Virginia Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

, a specialty book publisher, and The Ovid Bell Press in Fulton, Missouri, a printer of journals and magazines. In December 2019, the company announced plans to acquire the

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

-based Ripon Printers.

References

External links

Walsworth Publishing Company website
Publishing companies of the United States Companies based in Missouri Publishing companies established in 1937 Family-owned companies of the United States {{US-publish-company-stub