Arthur Wetzel

Printing Impressions' Upfront Commercial Printing Industry News for May 2009

CUDAHY, WI—Arthur Wetzel, who spent 73 years making Wetzel Brothers one of the Midwest's leading printers, passed away March 12 at the age of 105. Mr. Wetzel spent his entire career working at the company founded by his father, Ignaz, and his uncle, August. He was president of the PIA in the 1950s, and championed early innovations such as offset printing on plastic substrates and waterless printing. Mr. Wetzel sold his company to Consolidated Graphics in 1999.

Former printing company executive Arthur Wetzel, shown on the left, is the man of the hour during his 105th birthday celebration in August. Sharing in the festivities is Joe Davis, the president and CEO of Consolidated Graphics in Houston. Read story in Bits and Pieces.

PRINTING TECHNOLOGIES of the last 20 years transformed the dull, gray-stock sports trading card into works of art. Some premium cards over the past 10 years incorporate autographs and portions of memorabilia (go to piworld.com and search for the September 2006 cover story on Strine Printing for more on high-end card printing). Consumers can visit the dedicated Website, upload an image, enter a youth's team name and player statistics, view a PDF proof and then order a pack of 16 cards. "The quality we are able to offer with the HP Indigo press, as well as our highly developed Web-to-print workflows, gave Nestlé the confidence that we would be providing a best-in-class solution that reaches a target audience in a way no other promotion can," stated Susan Moore, president of DPI, in a release. DPI prints 16 sheets at a time, and the cards are UV coated, cut, stacked, packaged and shipped to the consumer in a process that doesn't require collation.

MILWAUKEE—Five years ago, Arthur Wetzel extended an invitation to Joe Davis, chairman and CEO of Consolidated Graphics. "Joe, I'd like to invite you to my 100th birthday party," remarked Wetzel. Davis, who had just purchased Wetzel Brothers from Wetzel, assured him, "I'll be there." Wetzel joked, "I hope I am." On August 15, Wetzel got his wish as he arrived at his 100th birthday celebration—attended by family and friends—in a vintage Rolls Royce once owned by the late Shah of Iran. Wetzel, who retired from the printing industry only five years ago with the sale of his company to Houston-based Consolidated Graphics, has