J. Salmon Limited
The company was founded in 1880 when Joseph Salmon, who had been a
bookseller in London, acquired a stationer’s shop with a general
printing business at 85 High Street, Sevenoaks in Kent. He continued
the business in its existing form until, in 1898, his son, also Joseph
Salmon, took over when his father retired.
By 1890, Joseph had
become interested in the potential of printing and publishing
pictorial post cards and produced a collection of twelve black and
white post cards of Sevenoaks and district. This was followed, by a
small collection of coloured post cards of local scenes. Such was the
success of these early cards that in a very few years the range had
been widened to include comic cards. Around 1912 Joseph Salmon also
started to publish post cards featuring the work of Alfred Robert
Quinton, a famous association that was to last until the artist’s
death in 1934.
Also at this time Salmon published a small
series of local view pictorial calendars with coloured illustrations
of English scenes, towns and regions. The earliest calendars were in a
turnover style although, as techniques developed, both turnover and
panel style calendars were produced in increasing numbers.
By the end of
the First World War, the business had outgrown its original site and a
new factory was built in Sevenoaks. Between the wars the company
continued to develop its product ranges under the control of Norman
and Eric Salmon.
After the Second World War post cards
remained as a core product and, from the 1960s, the range of Salmon
calendars steadily developed. Derek Salmon joined the company in 1948
and continued to play an active role in the business until the early
1990s.
The company has remained in the ownership of the Salmon family and today
is run by Charles and Harry Salmon, the fifth generation of the family
to be involved in the business.
In 2009 the company celebrated
100 years of calendar publication by which time it was publishing over
250 separate titles.
The company took the decision to cease
printing production in late 2017 and finally withdrew from publishing
in the early part of 2018.