Lakewood Lore

Printer puts his distinctive imprint on all operations

Put poetically, Gilbert Publishing Co., landmark Lakewood business, glided to success on the wings of artistic enterprise.

The firm was founded in 1923 by the late Fred and Hazel Gilbert with the distribution of a book of music for lodge use.

The couple was active in fraternal work. Hazel, a talented pianist, composed the music. It came to be in such demand that a regular publishing operation was required. Other music was added; then stationery, gifts, jewelry and ceremonial supplies for lodges.

Son Harold F. Gilbert graduated from Lakewood High School with an A average as an art major in 1934 and has headed operations since 1946.

"Through every stage of our growth, we've kept customer satisfaction as our No.1 operating rule," Harold pointed out. 'Though we've become large in plant, sales and procedures, we still feel that small-shop thrill when we find a new customer in our mail."

The Lakewood executive is proud of his catalog of merchandise. "Originally it had six pages; today it has expanded to 160," he said.

Harold was born in Elyria and came to Lakewood with his parents in 1928 when he was 12. He joined the family business part-time a year later, cranking out advertising handbills on a hand press.

"I studied printing with good instruction at Horace Mann Junior High and fell in love with the trade," he remembered, adding that a handful of exceptional teachers at Lakewood High also meant a lot to him in getting started.

In Lakewood, the Gilbert family were at several places before moving 45 years ago to 15624 Detroit Ave. at Summit, a location that served as both business office and home until 1961, when it was torn down to make way for the company's present one-story-brick business building there.

For many years the Lakewood Post, predecessor of the Sun Post, was next door, and Harold did invoices, business cards and other job printing work.

Following high school graduation during the Great Depression, Harold talked Fenn College (now Cleveland State University) into trading printing work for his tuition.

Taking over the company after World War II, during which service he received the Bronze Star as an Army Air Force lieutenant on Guam, Harold formed subsidiaries and brought irrto his fold numerous enterprises from related fields.

Soon annual corporate sales were up 83-fold from the 1945 volume as orders grew. One of his oldest customers was Rocky River High School. It had its commencement programs printed by Gilbert for 53 years.

Although Harold's staff is modest in size, he credits its loyalty as an important success factor. Average employee length of service is more than 18 years.

Harold married the former Alice Myers, a 1939 Lakewood High grad. Their son Kenneth is president of a Gilbert Publishing subsidiary, Carberry Manufacturing Co. The couple also have a daughter, Marcia, who is an artist in New York City, and three grandchildren in Lakewood.

Although tied to his job as a hardworking perfectionist, Harold's hobby interests have been substantial through the years. He is an art collector with 250 railroad, contemporary and Russian avant garde prints and paintings that have been shown at eight different museum exhibits.

He has turned the recreation room of his home in Lakewood into a full-size turn-of-the-century railroad depot, including benches, pot-bellied stove, lanterns, timetables and other memorabilia. His library contains 1,000 records of classical music and 350 limited-edition books.

He belongs to numerous international organizations, but is proudest for having been a founder and treasurer of NOAH (Neighbors Organized for Action in Housing), which in May announced plans for a $52 million intercity improvement project, including condo, shopping center and apartments for the elderly at Euclid Avenue and E. 79th Street to be called "Church Square."

This article by Dan Chabek appeared in the Lakewood Sun Post June 13, 1991. Reprinted with permission.

Mr. Gilbert died December 30, 1997. An obituary appeared in Lakewood Lore on January 8, 1998.

Mr. Gilbert was featured as a Lakewood Luminary in the Lakewood Files.

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