While there is no date on this photo, it shows publisher Arch Baumgartner at a young age. He was a college student in 1939 when he purchased The Milford Mail so we’re guessing it was taken about that time since he entered the Army Air Corps during World War II.

(NOTE: The Milford Mail was the beginning of The Mail-Journal, one of the publications owned by The Papers Inc.)

Most movies and books have main characters. Some of those have started with humble beginnings, going on to achieve something great.

Seventy-five years ago Tuesday, the beginning of a chapter was started and continues today. Arch Baumgartner purchased The Milford Mail, his hometown newspaper. It was the summer of 1939. He had just completed his third year of college and was home for the summer. He had spent the summer delivering ice for his brothers.

In a few short days, he found himself the young and totally inexperienced publisher of the local weekly newspaper. He was 21 years old. The purchase cost was $30 per month.

The publication had just 600 subscribers and facilities to hand set type, one letter at a time.

He was helped for a few weeks by the former publisher, A.J. Forbing and C.D. Barnes. But then, he was on his own and learned fast through necessity.

Mrs. Jack (Ruth) Wolferman came out of retirement to help Arch out of dire straits on more than one occasion when he found hand composition a job requiring a lot of dexterity. Her fingers were quick and accurate composing the stories, now a lost skill.

Arch Baumgartner, publisher of The Milford Mail, is shown here going through a fairly typical day’s activities. (1) checking the front page with Miss Maude L. McLaughlin, editor of The Mail. (2) Checking with shop foreman Dale Sherman as apprentice Darrell Bowman makes a cast. (3) Setting type as Sherman adjusts air on automatic Kluge and Betty Smith feeds Lee newspaper press. Bowman is at the cutter. (4) At the CSM Intertype with his sister, Edith, at the front straight matter machine. (Photos from 1954 Publishers’ Auxiliary)

But his entrepreneurship began earlier in life. As a young man, he delivered ice to farmers and businesses, working for his brothers Wilbur and Herb. The entrepreneurship, thought and vision he had, lead him to start his own ice route in the Dewart Lake area, which became successful. He saw the need wasn’t being met by another individual serving the area and went after it. These earnings helped him with college expenses.

Arch left for the war, leaving his sister, Edith, to hold the reigns until the war ended. He returned from World War II and he and his wife, Della, put in long hours and low pay but their ultimate reward was a newspaper at the end of the week. They lived in a five-room apartment above the shop, eventually moving into the home where his parents had lived, he was born in and where he lived the rest of his life.

Their two children, Jane and Ron, were raised in the business. While Jane never took an interest, Ron joined the company in 1966 and his wife, Gloria, a few years later. The father-son team and their wives operated the business along with an ever-growing team of dedicated co-workers.

Arch passed away June 18, 1988; Gloria Nov. 23, 2008; and Della Oct. 13, 2010. Ron continues the publishing and printing business his father started, which is ever growing and expanding.