Henry Street - Spring Hill - 1960's

Tom and Mary Earner printed the Sandgate Echo Newspaper in the 1920's and later moved into general printing, starting a tradition that has seen three generations of the Earner family follow the printing trade. The first location of the business was in Burnett Lane, behind Queen Street in Brisbane's C.B.D.

 

The Company traded through the hard years of the 1930's, and slowly built up an inner-city clientele which included the Post Master Generals Department, (pre-AustPost, Telstra) The Red Cross Society, MacDonald and East Department Store.
 

It was the inner city location that saw the Company join the war effort in the early 1940's. Everything was saved and recycled as the paper was in short supply. Packing crates and pallets were dismantled and the nails removed for melting down and re-use.
 

General Douglas Macarthur was Commander of the Pacific Forces, and his headquarters was in Edward St, just around the corner from Tom Earner's Printery. (Victory Press is still printing for the Macarthur Museum in Brisbane).
 

At the direction of General Douglas Macarthur, printing plates for Japanese currency were flown to Brisbane from the United States. Grandfather Tom, under the protection of armed US marines, was required to print huge quantities of Japanese paper money, The Japanese economy was in a rather ‘shaky' condition at this time, and by flooding Japan and the occupied islands of Okinawa and Guam with this currency, an effective propaganda weapon was introduced. There was also the distinct possibility at this time that Australia could be invaded, and this currency would have found its way into Australian pockets. At the end of the war, the firm's name was changed to The Victory Press Printing Company to acknowledge and celebrate the allied victory in WWII.

During the early 1950's the company moved to Water Street, Spring Hill, changed its name to Victory Press Printing Company Pty Ltd in 1966 - dropping the "The" from the name.

Following Tom's death, the business was run by his widow Mary until his son, John, who served in the Army until 1959, took over the business. John and his wife Barbara worked extremely hard to build up the business. As this was a seven day a week operation their sons Aaron and Mark were introduced very early to the world of printing, being given odd jobs on weekends and school holidays.

But expansion required another move to Henry St, Spring Hill in 1967. At the Henry Street location, the company consolidated its position as a supplier of carbonless business forms and expanded its specialty areas of large numbering, stock control systems and hotel booking systems (pre PC days). In 1980, the family purchased land on Bribie Island and purpose built a printing factory.
 

During the 1980's, the companies client base was diversifying and was no longer solely focused on Brisbane, but was growing to become Australia wide and international. The usual printed jobs are all undertaken but we have since ventured into a number of specialty areas.
 

The purchase of a numbering machine, the only one in Australia, has enabled the production of heat-proof number tags for kiln dried timber. Bar-coding for industrial purposes was in its infancy, and this machine could produce bar-code rolls. On three-year contracts with the Royal National Association (Ekka), numbers for every facet of the Exhibition are produced, from numbered plastic crescents that hang around the necks of livestock to identification numbers for every exhibit in the Show. There are hundreds of different types and styles required each year.

The Mather's Fun Run in 1979 provided the opportunity to supply the runners' numbers, or bibs, which has been followed by these items for events throughout Australia. The 2000 Olympic Games, the 2006 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, The Goodwill Games, Marathons and Triathlons in every State have used these bibs and through Event Management companies, Victory Press has become the major supplier of numbers for all kinds of athletic events in a number of countries.
 

Investment in the purchase of the most modern plant and machinery results in an enormous output of a great range of printed goods, utilising the skills of our valued team of local employees.

Plans for the future include the expansion of the specialty areas and the replacement and upgrading of certain equipment. The introduction of Digital printing has seen the addition of two fast digital presses (RICOH). In addition to this in 2012, the company installed a very high-speed Ink Jet printer for mailing and magazine address printing including the Australia Post 4 State Bar Code. This has also allowed the company to print on envelopes for mailing and supply Hospital Patient folders with large numbers and coloured tags. Diversification is seen as essential for the survival of the company in the current era of rapid technological change.
 

Interesting fact - one of the earliest books printed by Victory Press, (known at the time of writing) was the "Red Cross Cookbook" for Queensland in 1948. We have in excess of 60 titles, Biographies, Bribie Island ww2 History, Bribie Island Surf Life Saving Club History and local writers' own stories. Some over 500 pages.  All printed on Bribie Island.
 

We are proud supporters of the Caboolture Historical Village, the printing department, where our vintage printing equipment is displayed, much of it donated by Victory Press.
 

The family still has the original press that was used by Tom & Mary to print The Sandgate Echo. (Chandler and Price). (Now donated to the Caboolture Historical Village)

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In 2023 we moved to Caboolture QLD 4510, the start of a new era.

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The future 2032, our 100th Birthday, well the Brisbane Olympics for a start, who knows.

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