Grit was founded in 1882 by Rev. Henry R. Wolf, Jr. who published a weekly, one-color, four-page broadsheet called the Daily Sun and Banner. During that time, a young German immigrant named Dietrick Lamade began working for Wolf. The Daily Sun and Banner closed its doors in 1884 but the young 25 year old Lamade, along with two investors, were able to purchase the printing equipment and the Grit name. In the same year, Lamade published the first issue of Grit as an independent newspaper for the “plain people”. It was the first of its kind to feature color and fictional supplements.
As the newspaper grew from 1,500 to over 200,000 readers, it was able to acquire a new building along Third Street in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. From there it continued to expand and grow, building on the philosophy that readers were more important than advertisers and that providing the latest and best machines to its workers would allow it to be the most efficient newspaper in the country.
Commercial printing was added to the Grit Publishing Company’s successful newspaper in the early 1900’s. As the commercial printing business grew, so did the company’s size. A second building was added to the Grit site in 1906 to house all the Job Department and mechanical needs. The Lamade Family continued to manage Grit for nearly 100 years, creating “America’s Family Newspaper”.
In the early 1990’s, Grit Publishing and its newspaper were purchased by Stauffer Communications and eventually moved to Topeka, Kansas. Today, the Grit Newspaper is published by Ogden Publications. Grit Commercial Printing was purchased by a local partnership and today is a family-owned and operated printing business located in Montoursville, Pennsylvania.
Today, Grit continues to build on and deliver the same quality and value its customers have come to expect for over 100 years. Specializing in the printing and mailing of catalogs, postcards, brochures, posters, annual reports and magazines. Grit has continued to add state-of-the-art equipment such as Computer to Plate technology to stay on the cutting edge of the printing industry and deliver the highest quality products and services to its customers.
Our niche is helping metropolitan customers and local customers alike with a high-quality, low-cost, great service alternative.