In 1867 Henry Willson started his printing business in Toronto, Canada. In 1870, he moved the business to Chicago, Illinois. Shortly after arriving and opening shop, the building was destroyed in the Great Chicago fire in 1871. All that remained were printing dies that had been placed in kegs and thrown into the Chicago river. The early years were in the printing field, die cut advertising stickers, labels, price cards and tags as well as dry good/pin tickets and paper tablets. In 1895, with Chicago rebuilding and the first high rise buildings, came the need for building lobby directories. Directories were typically leased, with service contracts in place to provide replacement namestrips. We still service directory locations dating back to the late 1890′s.
Tablet & Ticket held the first patents for strip type building directories. Early units were found in the Manadnock, Reliance, Tribune Tower, Wrigley, Empire State buildings and thousands of others. By 1928, over 20,000 directories were in place. The first illuminated directory also came from Tablet & Ticket in 1940.
Today, Tablet & Ticket is still family owned, fifth generation, committed to remaining the leader for custom directories, display cases, kiosks and other products. All units are built to order. We welcome your calls for custom designs and modifications to units shown. Fax or emaill your preliminary designs and we will work with you to provide the products that you require.
87-89 N. Franklin Street, Chicago, IL 1870