Valley Litho Incorporated

The story begins with the Frank H. Jones Lithographic Company, which initially operated in Boston in 1923 and moved to the Lake Pleasant section of  Montague, Massachusetts, in 1932. Frank H. Jones of Greenfield had over twenty years of experience in the printing and advertising fields.

In May 1939, Mr. Jones relocated his business to the Holyoke Water Power Company building at 100 Water Street. The business was active in producing various types of color work, using offset and letterpress printers for commercial and advertising customers. The company also focused on specialty and package paper printing, producing bound magazines and books.

Two years before its move, the company had purchased modern lithographic equipment for use at its Lake Pleasant plant. The equipment was transported to Holyoke. Also, the company planned to add new multi-color lithographic presses and photographic color reproduction equipment. 

In early January 1940, it was announced that Frank H. Jones, John W. Cook and Harold J. Farrell received a corporate charter to operate as Valley Litho Incorporated. Mr. Jones remained President and Treasurer of the company, and John W. Cook was the plant Superintendent. The company’s 1940 sales exceeded its 1938 and 1939 annual receipts.

In 1941 and 1942, the company printed and produced the bound Holyoke High School yearbooks. The Bunco Book, penned by Holyoke’s Sidney Radner, was published by Valley Litho in 1946.

From 1947 to 1954, Howard A. Light was listed in the City Directory as the owner and, later in that period, as President and Treasurer of the corporation.

As a result of the 1950 expansion of Holyoke Wire & Cable Company, Valley Litho lost its 4,400-square-foot space on Water Street. The company relocated to a 6,200-square-foot factory in the Beebe-Holbrook mill complex on Dwight Street. Hazen P. Chase purchased the company later that year.

Claremont, New Hampshire’s Stevens High School yearbook won second place in Columbia University’s annual Scholastic Press contest. The 1952 yearbook was printed at Valley Litho. In the following year, Valley Litho produced the First Baptist Church’s 150th-anniversary booklet as part of the celebration.

On July 1, 1954, Valley Litho was forced to vacate its premises to make way for the fifth expansion of Acme Chain Corp. Valley Litho moved to the Hadley Metal Stamping and Manufacturing factory building on West Main Street in South Hadley. 

Clifford E. Morris was then listed as the business owner. The business ran into financial difficulties and closed in 1955. Its assets were sold at a public auction held on January 21, 1956.

Citations:

Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; publication dates and pages are shown.

Ancestry.com (paid subscription): Price & Lee Holyoke, Massachusetts, City Directories