Shepherd, Gaylord Oscar

The Strobridge Lithography Company was at one time one of America's most important lithography firms. Its signature products included circus, theater, and movie posters. In 1847, Elijah Middleton established an engraving company at Third and Walnut Streets in Cincinnati. In 1849, W.R. Wallace joined the company and in 1854, bookseller Hines Strobridge became a partner. The new firm was named Middleton, Wallace, and Company. In 1858, Wallace left the company and it became Middleton, Strobridge, and Company. By 1861, the company had the ability to produce lithographs which imitated oil portraits and created portraits of Washington, Lincoln, and Grant. In the years following the Civil War, the company endured a fire at Pike Opera House during which they lost both records and possessions. In 1867, Strobridge bought out his partners and renamed the business Strobridge and Company. In 1884, Strobridge built a factory in Over-the-Rhine and began production of the circus and theater posters for which his company was known. After a fire briefly closed the plant in 1887, Strobridge rebuilt immediately, and a few years later, he added offices in New York City and the Cincinnati suburban city of Norwood. In 1909, Hines Storbridge died and his son, Nelson, took over the company. By the 1930s, demand for circus and theater posters was slow and Strobridge's business waned. The company turned to movie posters, becoming one of the pioneers in that medium of advertising. But by 1961, Strobridge was sold to the H.S. Crocker printing company, and ten years later in 1971, that firm closed its doors, thus bringing to an end a significant part of Cincinnati's printing history.