Inventor Name
Walter Scott & Company.
Repository
Hagley Museum & Library
Manuscripts & Archives Department
P.O. Box 3630
Wilmington, DE 19807-0630
302-658-2400
https://www.hagley.org/research
Physical Description
0.5 linear ft.
Summary
Walter Scott & Company was organized in Plainfield, N.J., in 1884. The firm was a major manufacturer of printing presses, particulaly the large high-speed presses and folding machines used by newspapers. Walter Scott was born in Ayr, Scotland on May 22, 1844, and was educated at Ayr Academy. He came to America in 1869 and settled in Chicago, where he began developing printing and paper-folding machinery. He received his first patent in 1874, and in the same year he built the first folding machine to be combined with a rotary printing press for the Chicago Inter-Ocean. Scott relocated to Plainfield, N.J., and constructed a plant covering five acres to his own specifications in 1884. He developed the straight-line printing and folding machine in 1890, and by 1903 he held 200 patents. Scott died on September 14, 1907, and his widow continued to operate the business until her death in 1931, when she was succeeded by their son, David J. Scott. The firm was sold to the Wood Newspaper Machinery Corporation on March 14, 1957. The records comprise a fragmentary collection of 150 items covering various aspects of the history of the firm. The records include correspondence of Scott both in Chicago and Plainfield. Business papers include some material relating to patents, and statements, reports, contracts, payroll summary sheets, price lists and legal papers dating from the period of Mrs. Scott's management. There are also newclippings relating to World War I contracts for guns. Perhaps the most interesting item is a short typescript history of three leading printing machinery companies: R. Hoe & Company of New York, the Goss Printing Press Company of Chicago, and Walter Scott & Co. There is also an obituary of Scott and a short history of the company, both from the Inland Printer.
