Universal Press

Universal Press celebrates 40 years in business

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Alan Gardner February 15, 2010 1 minute 3 comments

Universal Uclick editor John Glynn reports that Universal Press Syndicate is celebrating 40 years in business.

Money was tight in the beginning, and Andrews and McMeel didn’t have the funds to compete with the fancy New York and Chicago offices of the big syndicates. They initially worked in a makeshift office over O’Briens bar near Grand Central Station … however, they were smart enough to get a mail drop box service that had a 5th Avenue address in a posh office building.

That allowed them to put that 5th Avenue address on their stationary to give them an air of respectability. And if someone insisted on visiting them at their “5th Avenue offices,” they’d arrive at the drop box building 10 minutes prior to the meeting and then come down the elevator to the lobby, the doors would open and they’d meet their guests.

The rest of the story is found on John’s blog and he promises to share other stories of UPS’s 40 year run to date.

Here’s a no audio slideshow of the people and places of the last 40 years.