Quality Printing Provided by Cricket for Over Eighty Years

Cricket Publishing Company had its beginning as the Battle Creek Letter Shop registered in Calhoun County to do business August 13, 1923 by Harold B. Keyes, a Certified Public Accountant and the Father of Phillip S. Keyes.  After working with his father in a dual role, Phillip Keyes left the firm and the accounting work to run the Letter Shop in July of 1945.

With his accounting background and experience, Phillip Keyes could see a need for "Standard Forms" that would work in office and business such as Daily Cash, Bank Reconciliation, and Columnar Work Sheets and a market for these items outside of the Battle Creek area.

From the very early days of advertising, as indidcated by the letterhead, "The Cricket" was used.  Working with Roy A. Plant, registered patent attorney, the trademarks and copyrights "It's Just The Cricket" was registered with the State of Michigan and then with the U.S. Patent Office.  In 1948, the first order blanks mailed were on the back of 3½" x 5½" post cards with six (6) forms offered in pads of 100 on bond paper only.

In May of 1956, Stanley E. Canfield joined the firm full time.  Mr. Canfield worked for the Battle Creek Letter Shop on a part-time basis through a high school co-op program from 1949 to his graduation in 1951.  The firm moved to its present location on South Twentieth in 1952 and experienced growth due to sales outside the Battle Creek area and additional management was needed.

Under the leadership of Phillip Keyes (until his retirement in 1976) and is partner, the accounts grew from 2000 in 1956 to over 12,000 in every state.  Cricket Publishing Company prints not only "Standard Forms," as in the beginning, but federal and state schedules as well in bond, translucent, snap-out, carbonless and 3M systems paper with several thousand combinations.