Gerlach Barklow Co.

Gerlach Barklow Co. was an American art-calendar and advertising manufacturer based in Joliet, Illinois. Founded in 1907, the company became known for producing illustrated calendars that businesses purchased and gave to important customers as promotional gifts. Its products belonged to a form of relationship marketing in which a visually appealing, useful household or office item kept a company’s name in front of customers throughout the year. The company grew into a substantial industrial employer and was described as one of the largest calendar and advertising companies in the United States. Its Joliet factory employed more than 1,500 people at its peak in the 1950s, indicating the scale of its production and the continuing importance of printed promotional goods during the period. The available historical material does not identify a founder, parent company, later owner, headquarters change, or definitive closure date. Gerlach Barklow’s identity was closely connected to commissioned illustration. Artists associated with the company included Arthur H. Hider, Bradshaw Crandell, Fletcher C. Ransom, Adelaide Hiebel, and Zula Kenyon. Many of the artists were women or residents of the Joliet area, and local people also served as models. Lois Delander, a Joliet resident who became Miss America in 1927, was among the company’s better-known models. These relationships connected the factory to the local cultural and commercial life of Joliet while also contributing to the visual style of American advertising calendars. The company’s surviving artifacts have cultural and design significance beyond their original commercial purpose. A Gerlach-Barklow fan is held in the collection of the Oakland Museum of California, providing evidence that the company’s promotional output extended beyond calendars to other branded or advertising-oriented printed objects. The products are also relevant to the history of commercial illustration, mass printing, local employment, and the use of annual gifts in customer retention. Because the available references focus on the company’s production, artists, workforce, and collecting legacy, details about its product catalog, corporate structure, financial performance, marketing campaigns, executives, and final operating years remain undocumented here. Gerlach Barklow should therefore be understood primarily as a historically significant American promotional-printing company rather than as a currently documented consumer brand.

Gerlach Barklow Co. was established in Joliet, Illinois, in 1907 as a manufacturer operating at the intersection of commercial printing, advertising, and illustration. Its best-known output was the art calendar: a printed annual calendar designed not only to provide a practical date reference but also to promote the business that distributed it. Companies bought the calendars and presented them to important customers, making the objects an early and tangible form of customer-retention advertising. The company developed into a major operation within the American calendar and advertising industry. Historical descriptions characterize it as one of the largest calendar and advertising companies in the country. Its factory was also an important Joliet employer. During the 1950s, the workforce reached more than 1,500 people, illustrating the scale that printed promotional merchandise could attain before the broad adoption of later electronic and digital advertising media. Artistic production was central to the company’s business. Artists associated with Gerlach Barklow included Arthur H. Hider, Bradshaw Crandell, Fletcher C. Ransom, Adelaide Hiebel, and Zula Kenyon. The company’s artistic network included many women and local residents, while people from the Joliet community frequently served as models. Lois Delander, a Joliet resident who won the Miss America title in 1927, was among the most notable models connected with the company’s work. These links gave Gerlach Barklow a distinctly local dimension while its printed products circulated through businesses and customers beyond Joliet. The company’s surviving objects also show that its promotional work was not limited strictly to wall or desk calendars. A Gerlach-Barklow fan is preserved in the Oakland Museum of California collection. Such an object demonstrates how advertising merchandise could combine practical use, decorative design, and brand exposure. The preservation of the fan, together with the recorded names of the company’s artists and models, has helped place Gerlach Barklow within the history of American commercial art and material culture. The available sources do not establish when the company ceased operations, whether it was acquired, or what happened to its factory and corporate assets. They also do not provide a documented list of executives, detailed product dates, revenue figures, or specific advertising campaigns. Its documented historical importance instead rests on its founding in 1907, its large-scale Joliet manufacturing operation, its employment of illustrators and models, and its role in producing calendars and related advertising objects for American businesses.

• 1950

  Peak mid-century employment

  [1]Gerlach Barklow Co.en.wikipedia.org

  The factory employed more than 1,500 people at its peak in the 1950s.

• 1927

  Lois Delander becomes Miss America

  [1]Gerlach Barklow Co.en.wikipedia.org

  Joliet resident Lois Delander, who was among the company’s notable models, won the Miss America title.

• 1907

  Company founded in Joliet

  [1]Gerlach Barklow Co.en.wikipedia.org

  Gerlach Barklow Co. was established in Joliet, Illinois, as an art-calendar and advertising manufacturer.

• Advertising fan enters a museum collection

  [1]Gerlach Barklow Co.en.wikipedia.org

  A Gerlach-Barklow fan became part of the Oakland Museum of California collection, preserving an example of the company’s promotional output.

A large American commercial-illustration and promotional-printing company whose calendars served as year-round advertising gifts for businesses and their important customers.

• Promotional print · 1907

  Illustrated art calendars

  Gerlach Barklow’s principal documented product was the illustrated art calendar. Businesses purchased these calendars as gifts for important customers, allowing commercial messages and artwork to remain visible over the course of a year. The calendars connected practical utility with commissioned illustration and functioned as durable advertising objects rather than ordinary retail stationery.

• Promotional merchandise

  Advertising fans

  A Gerlach-Barklow fan preserved by the Oakland Museum of California documents an additional form of promotional merchandise associated with the company. The available material does not specify its production date, design series, or distribution scale, but the artifact shows that the company’s advertising output extended beyond calendars.

1. 1Gerlach Barklow Co.en.wikipedia.org
2. 2Joliet's Gerlach Barklow Calendar Companysearch.worldcat.org