Detroit Publishing Co.

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Late 19th Century photochrom postcard of the Maison Kammerzell in Strasbourg by the Detroit Photographic Co.
Late 19th Century photochrom postcard of the Maison Kammerzell in Strasbourg by the Detroit Photographic Co.

The Detroit Publishing Company was an American photographic publishing firm best known for its large assortment of photochrom color postcards.

The company was founded as the Detroit Photographic Company in the 1890s by Detroit businessman and publisher William A. Livingstone, Jr., and photographer and photo-publisher Edwin H. Husher. The company had the exclusive rights to the photochrom process for the American market. Photochrom is a technique developed in Zürich, Switzerland, which allows the color enhancement of black-and white photography with the means of chromolithography. It allowed the company to mass-produce photorealistic color motifs long before color photography became economically feasible. The company specialized on postcards of American and European subjects, including cityscapes, reproductions of artwork, natural landmarks and folklore.

The best-known photographer for the company was William Henry Jackson, who joined the company in 1897. he became the plant manager in 1903, and in 1905 the company changed its name. By the time of World War I, the company faced declining sales both due to the war economy and the competition from cheaper, more advanced printing methods. The company declared bankruptcy in 1924 and was liquidated in 1932.

Most of the existing negatives and prints are now housed by the United States Library of Congress, which received them via the Edison Institute and the Colorado Historical Society in 1949. Most images are visible in digital form at the Library of Congress Web site.

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