[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15803-15804]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING CAXTON PRINTERS

  Mr. CRAIG. Mr. President, I wish to honor one of Idaho's oldest 
businesses--Caxton Printers of Caldwell, ID. This year they are 
celebrating their 100th anniversary; they are older than many Caldwell 
mainstays including the J.R. Simplot Company and the Caldwell Night 
Rodeo.
  For 100 years, Caxton Printers has served the people of Idaho. Their 
ideals are reflected in the statement of one of the founders, J.H. 
Gipson: ``Books to us never can or will be primarily articles of 
merchandise to be produced as cheaply as possible and to be sold like 
slabs of bacon or packages of cereal over the counter. If there is 
anything that is really worthwhile in this mad jumble we call the 
Twentieth Century, it should be books.''
  Well, times have certainly changed since then. One can only imagine 
what Mr. Gipson would say about the 21st century. Caxton Printers, 
though, continues to survive by focusing on quality--both in their 
service and in their product. My staff and I know this firsthand.
  What they do for us, though, is just a sliver of their storied 
history.
  During their first 100 years, the family-run business has been a 
shining example of a couple bootstrappers making it in the rural West. 
In fact, at one point, they were the exclusive printing and binding 
company west of Kansas City, and in the 1920s they decided to help 
western writers receive the attention they deserved. By 1928, they had 
produced five titles. Output steadily grew, and by 1936 they had 
released well over 100 new books. While they lost money on virtually 
every book published before World War II, Mr. Gipson ``felt repaid in 
producing at least a book or two which have a fair chance of gaining a 
place in the permanent literature of our country.'' Well, Caxton's most 
famous author, Ayn Rand, certainly achieved that acclaim.

[[Page 15804]]

  Caxton Printers has helped to preserve and tell the history of the 
West. In addition to focusing their publishing on nonfiction books 
about the West, they have served as the Idaho State Textbook Depository 
since 1927. Just about every student in Idaho has been impacted by 
Caxton Printers. I can tell you that this Senator certainly appreciates 
all they do to preserve and tell the stories of the people, places, and 
events that shaped the West.
  Over the past 100 years, Caxton Printers and the Gipson family have 
experienced a lot and, through it all, have prospered while remaining 
true to J.H. Gipson's philosophy of producing high-quality books and 
products. They make Idaho, and the West, proud.

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