A Story about a Publisher
A little
history about GF Callenbach¹ (1871-1949), a member and later Managing Director
of the Publishing firm GF Callenbach P/L in Nijkerk. The writer is his grandson
and namesake (1933)² and a retired Managing Director of the publishing firm.
This story was related to me by the representative of the paper merchant Proost,
who used to call on us while I was working as a trainee- publisher with the firm
“Het Wereldvenster” in Baarn in 1960.
It was with a certain amount of fear and trepidation that the young
representative entered the management offices of the publishing firm Callenbach.³
It would have been in the nineteen twenties that he was, for the first time,
allowed to go and discuss the question of paper supplies all by him self. Mr
Callenbach himself was in the office, dressed in a three piece suit with fob
watch chain draped across his stomach, with a well coiffured moustache and
goatee. Not exactly somebody to put a young representative at ease...
Still, the discussions went smoothly and specifications of the various orders
were quite clear. That was until an order was placed for 1000 kg of “backside
paper” The young man noted the order but had no idea what it was about. Of
course he was too scared to ask for an explanation and he took the order
literally.
I should inform the reader that in those days our books for the Sunday schools
had a red linen spine. On the front of the hard cover was a nice colour picture
printed on good quality paper. On the back of the hard cover, however, the
graphics did not require such a high quality and a cheaper grade would suffice.
In the jargon of the publishing this was called reverse side paper or, ………..”backside
paper”.
Due to the shyness of the representative the 1000kg of the lower quality was not
delivered a few weeks later. Instead a phone call was received from the station
master of Nijkerk, who wanted to know what in heavens name the Callenbach
business wanted with half a freight cart full of rolls of toilet paper and when
could they come to unload same.
The story goes that all the staff of both the publishing arm and the book
binding section received free toilet paper for more than a year.
¹
George Frans Callenbach, (5.7)
² George Frans Callenbach, (5.7.3.1)
³ The bookbinding business was attached to the publishing offices hence the
requirement for paper.
(This article was
first published in the family publication “The Prophet of the Velue” No
49/50 in February/May 1997