Did you know? Smyth Cos., Inc. marks its 130th year

-- Packaging Digest, 5/1/2007

Smyth Cos., Inc. marks its 130th year in the printing business in 2007. The company was founded in 1877 by Henry Martin Smyth as a commercial printer of bond certificates, books, surveying maps and accounting forms. The H.M Smyth Printing Co. was one of the earliest businesses in St. Paul. The company established itself early as an innovator, becoming the first printer west of Chicago to use lithography for commercial printing.

Gregory G. McGuiggan, who joined the company in 1900, purchased the firm in 1917; his relatives own and manage the company to this day.

In the 1950s, Smyth shifted its focus from commercial printing to labels for consumer goods packaging, which is still its focus today.