Lakeside Press Moves On
Artwork: designslinger]
By 1912, R.R. Donnelley & Sons were doing so much business printing a catalog for Sears,
the country's telephone directories and various and assorted other materials, that they outgrew their printing plant on Plymouth Street. (Here's the link, in case you missed it) The new building Howard Van Doren Shaw designed for the company also continued to expand over the intervening years, until it occupied an entire city block, becoming the largest printing concern in the world by 1930.
Shaw again gave Donnelley a building that pushed the envelope when it came to
manufacturing plant design, and was heralded as one of "the finest essays in Industrial Gothic" architecture.
In addition to printing the Sears catalog and over 1,000 different telephone directories,
Donnelley clients included Time, Life, Look, Sports Illustrated, National Geographic and Fortune magazines. It published the Encyclopedia Britannica, World Book and Comptons. Their roster of print work wasn't limited to just large publications, they printed millions of brouchures and pamphlets for small businesses around the country. Over 4,000 people walked in and out of the Calumet Avenue plant everyday day for work. The operation was so huge that the U.S. postal service had a post office location in the complex dedicated to handling the vast volume of mail that was generated on a daily basis. But by 1993, when Sears decided to stop printing their catalog, Donnelley shut down its Chicago plant. The company is still one of the largest printers on the planet, but they have become a global company with a focus on the Internet and computer based printing technologies. The building itself now serves as a "carrier hotel" for the telecommunications and Web-hosting industries, supporting the weight of computer equipment instead of old printing presses, serving our increasingly fiber-optically wired world.
Posted by designslinger at 3/11/2010 2:26 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History, Preservation
Tags: Howard Van Doren Shaw printing business magazines R.R. Donnelley Sons catalogs
Categories: Architecture, History, Preservation
Tags: Howard Van Doren Shaw printing business magazines R.R. Donnelley Sons catalogs
Interesting story. I didn't know about a Sears catalog or the building. Thanks.
You're very welcome my friend.
Hello,
I have a Charles Russel print 'The Broken Rope' that is 29" x 21" framed. In the lower right hand corner it says 'Reproduced at the Lakeside Press. R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company. U.S.A.'.
On the left it says 'Published by Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth Texas'. This particular painting was done in 1904.
Can you tell me the year this was printed at Lakeside Press? Do you know anything about this print?
Thanks, Sharyn
Glad you found your way to our posting but sorry to say we can't be of any help in identifying the year Lakeside produced the print and have nothing we can share about the print itself. Donnelley/Lakeside printed thousands, if not millions of specialized prints for all types of clients, including museums. You might try the Donnelley Company, since they are still in business and headquartered in Chicago, and see if they can check their archives. The company is now part of a large world-wide conglomerate, but you never know.
Sorry we weren't able to help. Good luck!
Having worked in the "Cal Plant' from 1966 - 1969 and next door at the West Plant 1969-1972, I was very pleased to see the article. Would have liked ro see more photos and longer views to see the while building. Thanks for a little blast from the past.
It's so great to hear from people who have connections to the buildings we tell stories about. It really helps bring them to life. We have so many more pics than we could ever squeeze in of every building, but glad you liked the "blast from the past" anyway! Thanks for the visit, and we really appreciate your taking the time to comment.