In 1976, Cal Sutphin and his wife, Sandy, moved their family to the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area, with the goal of setting up a new branch for Braden Sutphin Ink. He not only succeeded in opening up a new region for his company, but accomplished much more: developing a life-long love for the local printing industry, its people and the region that he and his family have called home for the past 40 years.
 
When Sutphin retired two years ago as president of Braden Sutphin Ink, he decided to write a book about the Baltimore-Washington D.C. printing industry – its history, its people and more. “Red Tie’s History of the Printing Industry” is a treasure trove of the people, the companies and much more.
 
All told, Sutphin’s book includes the names of 9,120 prominent people from the industry; 1,554 companies; 363 stories from people he interviewed; and 591 photos.
 
“The name of the book, “Red Tie’s History of the Printing Industry,” is a nod to Cal’s father, Al Sutphin, who was the first employee hired by Braden Ink back in 1913, and built the company up, eventually becoming a partner in the 1920s and purchasing 100% of the company in the late 1920s, just before the Great Depression.
 
Al Sutphin was an influential figure in Cleveland, acquiring the Cleveland hockey team in the American Hockey League, in 1934, and building the Cleveland Arena for his Cleveland Barons in 1937. He always wore his trademark red tie for meetings; Cal Sutphin also wore a red tie at all meetings in honor of his father.
 
Sutphin said that the idea of writing his book was inspired by the friendships he has formed over his four decade in the area.
 
“The printing industry here is a prettytight-knit community,” he said. “It is a really good market. Even when other regions struggled, our Baltimore-Washington D.C. plant had 25 years of continued growth.”
 
Sutphin has always been active, and once he retired from Braden Sutphin, the idea of “Red Tie’s History of the Printing Industry” came to him less than one week later.
 
“I retired Dec. 31, 2013, right after our company celebrated its 100th anniversary,” Sutphin said. “I had been with Braden Sutphin full-time for 54 years, and it was just time to step down, but I didn’t want to retire. Six days into 2014, I decided I wanted to write a book about the industry and its people.”
 
Sutphin said that the decision to open a branch in the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area came with risks for Braden Sutphin Ink.
 
“In 1976, when we opened, we literally didn’t have 10 cents of business in Washington D.C. and a couple of hundred thousands of dollars in Baltimore,” he recalled. “The top three ink companies in Washington at the time we opened our branch were Capitol Printing Ink, Graphic Fine Color and Lewis Roberts.
 
“Capitol Printing Ink, led by Werner Gerlach and Dick Kline, was a powerhouse,” Sutphin added “Graphic Fine Color was led by Stan Miller, Harvey Ainbinder and Bob Peters, and Lewis Roberts was led by Milt Fall and Milt Fall Jr.”
 
At the time Braden Sutphin chose to open a branch and blending station in the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area in 1976, Sutphin chose Hanover, MD, located between the two cities, with Philadelphia and Richmond two hours away. The branch relocated to Savage, MD in 1986.
 
“Because our company was from Cleveland, printers in DC did not know who we were, but they were receptive,” Sutphin said. “I went to printing club meetings, went door-to-door, and dropped off samples.
 
“I was there by myself for the first eight months, and we were up to three people by the end of the first year,” he added. “Our high point was $10 million in sales and 30 people inside and outside the plant.”
 
Sutphin said that industry people are excited about the book.
 
“The majority of the people I spoke with were pretty excited,” he said. “Tom Wecker, one of Braden Sutphin’ sales representatives, said that everywhere he called on, people told him how excited they were about the book. I spoke with small printing companies who were excited that they would be in my book. The reaction to my book has been very positive; on a daily basis, people tell me they see names of old friends.
 
“We have made so many life-long friends,” he added. “When we lost our daughter Mia in May 2002, so many of our industry friends turned out for the funeral.”
 
“Red Tie’s History of the Printing Industry” is $37.10 (including tax) or $42.40 (including shipping and tax). To order, please send Sutphin a check payable to Red Tie Consulting, and send it to Cal Sutphin, 9095 Furrow Ave., Ellicott City, MD 21042. Sutphin will deliver the book to companies within the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area if possible. If you order from Sutphin rather than through Amazon, he will inscribe the book.
 
A portion of the proceeds will go to the Mia Sutphin Foundation, for Cal’s daughter Mia, an RN, who was 28 when she passed away May 19, 2002, while caring for 89 HIV-positive orphans in Kenya.         
 
For more information, please contact Sutphin at [email protected] or call (410) 507-7355.