Goettmann Printing was founded about 1911 by Edward W. Goettmann (1889- 1975), son of local cigar maker Michael Goettmann and his wife, Ida. By 1914 his younger brother, Earl C. Goettmann, joined the business, and later became owner. The 1919 City Directory listing reads “Goettmann Printing Co, the; Earl C. Goettmann, Mgr and Propr; Catalogue, Job and Commercial Printers and Bookbinders. The company was located at various Main Street addresses, until 1924, when the building on Washington St. was constructed.
The Daily Northwestern reported on May 22, 1924, page 16, “… the Ganther Construction company is building a new home for Goettmann Printing Company, which is expected to be completed by the middle of August. The new printing establishment is being built on the site of the old brick residence next to the F.R.A. Almost two weeks ago operations there were begun with the razing of the old residence that probably had a history going way back to early Oshkosh. Frames for the footings are practically all in, it is understood. ” Construction may have taken longer than anticipated, for it was not until Thursday, October 30, 1924, that an ad in the Daily Northwestern, page 4, read “A Cordial Invitation is Extended to the Public to Inspect the New Plant of the Goettmann Printing Company, 58 Washington Boulevard, Thursday Evening and All Day Friday.”
Among the items known to have been printed by Goettmann are the ballots for the November 8, 1932, election in Winnebago County, as reported in the Daily Northwestern, October 20, 1932.
Earl C. Goettmann died October 29, 1977. The business continued until 1986, when the building was sold to Paul Redemann. He converted the workrooms into office space, and received an Acanthus Award from the Oshkosh Landmarks Commission for adaptive reuse of a building in 1987.