History

Troedel is a name synonymous with printing in Melbourne.
The Troedel family has been printing in Melbourne since 1860 when Charles Troedel (pictured left) first arrived with his flat bed lithographic press. He established his printing business on the site now occupied by the Melbourne Town Hall.

Charles Troedel's original press is now on display in the William Troedel & Co foyer.

Charles was quite a well-known and respected figure of his time, regarded as the man who commercialised and popularised lithographic printing in Australia.

His 1863 publication "The Melbourne Album" gathered together a collection of twenty-four of the most appealing and dramatic lithographic images of the Melbourne and surrounding district during the Victorian gold rush era.

Following a fire that destroyed the Flinders Lane factory in 1904, Charles's son Walter Troedel joined up with the then factory manager Edward Cooper to form a new printing company Troedel & Cooper at new premises in Bank Place off Little Collins Street opposite the famous English Pub ''Mitre Tavern." In 1929 the Company moved to 86 Bay Street Port Melbourne.

During the period 1900 to 1960's, the company accountant Arthur Hewett (who began with the company in 1897 and retired in 1963, after 66 years of service) meticulously saved samples of all print jobs, which resulted in a world-class collection of early 20th century advertising posters, unmatched in Australia. The collection has since been donated to the La Trobe Library.

The Troedel family is woven into the fabric of Melbourne and Australia. There are many artistic associations. The Swiss painter Nicholas Chevalier was one of those who painstakingly captured the sights of colonial Australia on the slabs of Bavarian limestone used in the lithographic process originally. A Troedel apprentice, Arthur Streeton, was sketching at Mentone one day when he met artists Tom Roberts and Fred McCubbin, who lured him away to join The Heidelberg School, to become one of Australia's greatest artists. (He later wrote to Walter Troedel acknowledging the debt he owed the family for his training in draughtsmanship).

George Johnston, apprenticed in commercial art to Troedel and Cooper in the 1930s, captured the trade and its identifiable characters in the fictional printery "Klebendorf and Hardt" in My Brother Jack. (Jack Johnston worked at Troedel's into the late1950s). The renowned book has recently been made into a mini-series with Walters great Grandson Alastair Troedel, actually playing a minor part in the mini-series operating the original press brought to Australia in 1860 by Charles Troedel.

Walter's son Theodore took over running the business and today his son Bill Troedel with the assistance of his son Alastair operates his own printery under the name of William Troedel & Co Pty Ltd in Oakleigh South.

Established by Bill in 1974 and now with the considerable talents and abilities of Alastair (who was the 1995 Victorian Apprentice of the Year), the company is looking forward to a bright and prosperous printing future, and the continuance of the legacy that began 140 years ago.