The Sherman Printing & Binding Co. was founded in Seattle by Alonzo A. Sherman around 1911. Sherman had worked at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in the late 1890s and then worked as a printer in Spokane from about 1900-1905. Returning to Seattle, he worked for the Metropolitan Press and the Seattle Daily Star before opening his own business around 1908, first on Third Avenue, then at 807 Western Avenue. The business is listed as the Sherman Printing & Binding Co. beginning with the 1911 city directory. By around 1915, the company had moved to 71 Columbia Street, the address listed on the business card shown here. Around 1918, the company was sold to R.L. Polk & Co., the publishers of city directories across the nation.
From the early 1920s, Sherman Printing had sports teams which competed in local leagues. From about 1926-1950, the Sherman Printing bowling team competed in the "Ben Franklin League" at Ideal Alleys, against teams from other Seattle printing companies.
In 1950, the Polk Co. sold the Sherman Printing & Bindery to fifteen of its 37 of employees, in an offer that was "virtually a gift," according to one news account. One of the new shareholders was printer Frederick A. Anderson, listed as "Estimatory Salesman" on the business card shown here. Anderson worked at Sherman Printing & Binding for about 20 years. The company seems to have been in business at the same address until some time in the 1960s.
Caption information source: Seattle Times, October 22, 1967, p. 46; and April 20, 1950, p. 14.
ID Number: 1976.6296.25
Date: Circa 1936
Physical Description: 1 business card ; 2.75 x 4.5 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
