© OUR HISTORY

2822 Wilbur St. / Battle Creek, MI  USA  /  1-800-962-9330 /  FX 1-269-962-9411
 

 
Charles A. Christman, a talented wood engraver who worked from about 1880 to his death in 1935, established the "Christman Engraving Company in 1919 in Battle Creek. 
  In Cincinnati at the age of 15, he left school to learn the engraving trade. At that time it was the only way to get things in printable form for any media.  In 1902  he came to Michigan as a superintendent of the Consolidated Paper Co. in Monroe. Later in 1918,  he moved to Battle Creek, worked for one year for the Gage Printing Co., then worked a short time for the Crescent Printing Co. in Kalamazoo, before returning to Battle Creek to establish the The Christman Engraving Co.
  He was soon first joined by his son Wallace, and later by second son, Ralph. Educated at U of M as an engineer, he eventually took control of the business, as Wallace had moved to Illinois.  In the early 1920's the company established a silk-screen printing department.  This makes it the oldest active company of its type in Michigan today.
  Ralph had two sons, and after his distinguished service in the pacific in WWII,  Ralph Jr. joined the firm in 1945. Second son Allan also graduated from U of M as an engineer, and decided to move to Tennessee to help the Oak Ridges Nuclear project.  Ralph Sr.  and Jr. worked hard bringing the science of screen printing along, and specializing in the formulation of water slide-off decals. Beverly, Ralph's wife stepped in to manage accounts payable and receivable after Ralph Sr. retired. Some of the top U.S. Companies like CLARK EQUIP CO. and A.C. SPARK PLUG contracted with the our company to provide water slide-off decals to mark and identify many of their products.
  Eventually Ralph Jr. saw the the outdated photo engraving business die off due to technological changes.  He had the foresight although, to establish an advertising specialties firm, sort of a companion company, it was named Ad-Wise, Inc. and to continue on with the screen printing business in general.
  In 1971 Ralph Jr's son, David joined the business and decided screen printing T-shirts was the way to go.....and he pioneered that field, purchasing equipment, and doing the first professionally large order of t-shirts for Sun-Glo Pop. Soon David's talented wife, Dana,  joined the company and is the office manager to this very day.  In 1977 oldest son Michael joined the company as a salesman. He eventually added a sales department, hiring commissioned salespeople, stepping out of active day to day selling, to manage and administrate.
  In the 1980's embroidery machines were added to enhance the sportswear business, and David pioneered that also....he is now the company computer digitizer for embroidery logo design. The computer-aided design revolution eventually re-shaped the art department and the way screens were made. Ralph Jr. retired in 1990, but still keeps a daily presence, and is active in the business.
  The most recent change in the business, is the addition in 2004 of a 54 inch Solvent Ink Digital printer, and we are preparing ourselves for the future. This machine can print vinyl decals, plastic for back lighted boxes, canvas, T-shirt transfers, banners, paper, etc. All with any 4-color art file, with no limitations on "how many colors" one can print. The only constant in the graphic arts world is constant change, one must ride this wave of change to keep the company viable.

 

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