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GU I D E to Y E L L OW S P R I NG S | 2O22 – 2O23 47 When book lovers need a way to signify that a tome belongs to them, they might go searching for decorative, personalized stickers that mark their ownership. And to accomplish this task, they might turn to Bookplate Ink. Though the local business has served customers around the world for 18 years, the history of the business spans nearly a century, running in tandem with the history of Yellow Springs itself. The story begins — as so many local stories do — at Antioch College. As the tale goes, in 1926, Antioch students Ernest Morgan and Walter Kahoe noted that there was an abundance of paper waste at the college’s print shop, where both of the young men worked. The two put their heads together and struck up a deal with the college: in exchange for some janitorial work, they’d be able to use the loose paper ends — and the print shop’s machinery — to create bookplates to sell. Thus was born the Antioch Bookplate Company, arriv - ing on the scene at what was arguably the tail end of the zenith of bookplate usage in the United States. Printed bookplates — also referred to as “ex libris,” after the Latin for “from the library of,” which often precedes the name of a book’s owner on a book - plate — are nearly as old as Gütenberg’s printing press itself. Though originally used primarily by monasteries and European nobles, by the late 19th century, they were used more widely by middle-class readers. After the Antioch Bookplate Company was formed, Morgan hit the road to make book - plates even more accessible to the middle class. Sometimes hitchhiking, he sold the fledg - ling company’s bookplates — many of which featured art by Antioch students — to book sellers around the Midwest. “It could be kind of costly to get a custom bookplate made back then,” said Karen Gardner, who is the owner and operator of Bookplate Ink. “But when [Morgan] started doing bookplates, his idea was to have universal designs that could be personalized with just a name, and that made them more affordable to everyone.” Over the years, the Antioch Bookplate Company would feature bookplates designed by such artists as Benton Ferguson, an illustrator for magazines like Vanity Fair and The Saturday Evening Post, as well as local artists and designers Read Viemeister and Jean Rudegeair, to name a few. One of the company’s most enduring designs — a book enshrouded by the roots of a tree — was created by artist and former Antioch fac - ulty member Robert Whitmore in the 1930s. The company expanded over the decades, buying out smaller bookplate companies around the country and eventually acquiring exclusive licensing rights to print Disney characters. “In the 1930s to the ’50s, Antioch was the biggest seller of bookplates — probably in the world,” Gardner said. Ernest Morgan retired and was replaced at the company’s helm by his son, Lee Morgan, in 1971. The company expanded to products like bookmarks and journals and, in 1981 — by then a multi- million-dollar operation — was renamed The Antioch Publish - ing Company. Around this VILLAGE’S HISTORY IN BOOKPLATES By LAUREN ‘CHUCK’ SHOWS From November 2020 ▲ The crew of the Antioch Bookplate Co., in front of the company’s shop on Xenia Avenue, ca. 1927. From left: Tom Carter, Ernest Morgan, Freeman Champney and Russell Mills. P H O T O : A N T I O C H I A N A , A N T I O C H C O L L E G E 259 Xenia Ave. www.sunr isecafe. n e t 9 3 7 - 7 67-7211 SUNRISE CAFE BREAKFAST • LUNCH • DINNER WORLD CUISINE with LOCAL FARE SEE OUR MENU!