A Brief History of Curry Printing

Sandy Cohen and her partner, Jack Ebert, bought a quick copy franchise called Curry Copy Center in late 1977.

The business grew steadily each year. Nancy, Jack’s daughter, started working full time at Curry right after high school in 1979. Nancy and Sandy ran the copy business and Jack ran the press. Over time, more staff was added. Warren was hired as pressman in 1982. Sales grew and loyal clients returned month after month, year after year.

Sandy bought Jack’s share of the business in 1985 and became the full owner of Curry. Paula Fargo, Sandy’s daughter, worked at Curry part-time as the bookkeeper while she was in college (1981-85). She returned full time at the end of 1987, after earning her M.B.A. at Loyola University Maryland.

Shortly after that, Paula hired her sister in-law, Beth Cohen, who became Curry’s first graphic designer. Seeing that she had a competent staff, Sandy started taking more time off of work, buying a home in Florida. In 1992, Paula bought Sandy’s ownership of the company and became the new owner of what was now known as Curry Printing & Copy Center.

In the years since Paula bought Curry, there have been staggering changes in the industry known as quick printing. Technological advances have brought about dramatic increases in quality, speed and productivity, while driving prices down. Consolidation has decreased the number of industry competitors.

Jobs that used to take a week now only take a few hours. Jobs that used to take all day now take 15 minutes. Printing jobs used to come in “camera-ready,” literally meaning able to be placed in the camera and have a plate shot directly from the paper. Now “camera-ready” means an emailed file containing the art file, ready to be output directly onto a plate to go onto the press, or printed directly to a digital press.

In 1981, our copy machines made 650,000 black and white copies. Currently, those numbers are counted in the multi-millions, and growing each year.

Curry has weathered six economic downturns, emerging not only unscathed, but healthier and more competitive than ever. In addition, Curry has very little turnover and an extremely strong, talented, and professional staff. Everyone at Curry looks forward to the future and the many new challenges that await us there.

After 40+ years, we are honored to be your #1 choice for Printing in Baltimore. 

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