Collection 00766 - Superior Engravers collection

Superior Engravers was founded in Hamilton in 1921. The company's primary function at that time was the production of pre-press acid etchings (a process that involved etching text and images onto metal plates) for use in the printing of posters, and newspaper and magazine advertisements. In the mid 1930s, the owners and four key employees entered into a court battle for control of the company. The employee group won, gaining control of Superior Engravers, and Harold Pitts was named works manager and William Van Sickle became secretary-treasurer. By the 1950s, Jim Pitts, son of Harold, and Jim Van Sickle, son of William, had joined the company, for which projects included the production of shopping catalogues for Eaton’s department stores. Harold Pitts became company president in 1960, and began embracing the technological change of the time, importing a scanner from Germany that could produce colour film separations at a rapid rate. Jim Pitts and Jim Van Sickle gained control of the company in 1971, and continued to embrace technological change, purchasing the first fully-computerized scanner in Canada in 1972. Harold Pitts retired from Superior Engravers in 1976, but remained a director of the company. John Pitts, son of Jim and grandson of Herald, joined the company in 1979, becoming production manager then sales manager in the 1980s. In 1986, John Pitts bought Jim Van Sickles' shares of the company and became president. John's father, Jim Pitts, remained company chairman until his retirement in 1996. In the 1990s, Superior Engravers was renamed Superior Graphics Communications. In 1994, John Pitts eliminated his title as president, and the company became a partnership, known as Superior Interactive Communications. Circa 1998, the company was renamed Brickworks Communications Inc., and Peter Earle, a former Defasco executive, was named CEO. The company continues to provide advertising and marketing support, with an increased focus on corporate and interactive communications. John Pitts is the current owner and president of Brickworks Communications, located at 270 Sherman Avenue North in Hamilton, Ontario.