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 At the time Mel and Alice purchased the Reminder they had two children, Joyce and John. Alice, who had beauty shop, also managed the home. By 1949, the Jacobs had welcomed two more sons, Stephen and Fred. All four children were integrated into the business as they were growing up, making the Reminder a family enterprise. Truly, all of the Jacobs' children, Joyce, John, Steve and Fred, grew up with ink in their veins and the roar of presses in their ears. The print shop is a blend of smells, sounds and visual images found no other place in the world. It was ink, machine oil, slapping belts, grinding gears, and scrap paper that formed the backdrop of the kids’ earliest memories. With every aspect of the Reminder housed in their home starting in 1947, the family literally lived with the paper. Supplies such as newsprint and cans of ink were stored in every available space. Part of the basement was devoted to a photography dark room. The Jacobs children were always present whether it was a nap on top of a pile of newsprint, rolling in scrap paper in the back yard or like Fred, playing under the press when it wasn’t running.
Business and Printing Evolution at J-Ad
The Jacobs started to expand their service area to include the rural area around Hastings.In 1947, two years after purchasing the Reminder, the Jacobs bought a used Webendorfer 17x22 offset press which was housed in an extension to the back of their home. It used pre-cut sheets 17"x22" in size and printed two pages at a time, which was going through the press, it was turned over and run through a second time printing the opposite side. The Reminder in 1947 was the first free advertising shopper’s guide in the State of Michigan to be printed by the offset printing method. By the mid-1950's the work load demanded a more efficient press. Mel heard about a used press for sale at the Speaker Hinds Printing Company in Lansing that might better suit their increased needs. This press was a large Harris 7L sheet-fed in good operating condition. This Harris 7L sheet-fed was being used at the time to print Michigan’s telephone books and was many times more efficient than their old Webendofer. Mel purchased the Harris 7L press, but it was too large for the 510 S. Jefferson facilities. Lucky for them, they owned property on North Broadway, which had a big barn. The red barn was only being used to house saddle horses belonging to the Jacobs' children. The Jacobs' were therefore obligated to install their new press in the barn. This barn now houses Hastings Prints Plus and can be seen in the overhead photos rotating at the top. It was determined that some major structural changes had to be made to the barn before this large heavy machine could be moved on site. A new reinforced floor had to be installed. A friend of the family and electrician, Doug Hinds, who was employed at the Hastings Manufacturing Company, worked many evenings and weekends for nearly a year rewiring the press. In 1977, ground was broken at 1952 N. Broadway Avenue (now 1351 N. M-43 Hwy.) for a new 13,000 square foot facility to house J-Ad Graphics’ entire operations, bringing everything under the same roof. With this move came the purchase of a larger and faster press capable of printing a 56 page tabloid at the rate of 18,000 copies per hour. In December of 1977, the staff moved in. By 1988 the business had outgrown the building and a 14,000 square foot addition was constructed, more than doubling the size of the original building. New computerized typesetting equipment was added at this time. A third addition to the plant was made in 1993 to house a new Harris/Heidelberg Mercury Press. These acquisitions expanded commercial printing to a new market for J-Ad Graphics. By 1996 J-Ad Graphics had more than 100 full and part-time employees and is becoming one of Barry County’s major employers.
The Harris 7L printed a 34"x44" sheet which when backed up for the second printing, produced 16 pages on one sheet. Once in operation an Omaha Folder was attached at the end of the press delivery table.
Jim Cool, J-Ad's first pressman, came up with a way to attach the Omaha folder right in line to the press. The attachment was so ingenious that many printers from around the state visited J-Ad to take a look at what they had done. The new Harris 7L was a giant step forward, but the page count in each week’s editions continued unabated as well did the demand for custom printing by outside sources.
After a period of time it became apparent that even the Harris 7L couldn’t keep up with demands and that a high speed, web-type printing press was the only solution.
In 1963, the company bought its first new web printing press, a Vangard web-offset press.The Jacobs purchased one of the first Harris Vangards made. This new press had three units and could produce 24 pages or 16 pages of black and white plus eight pages of color. Because the new Vangard was of such advanced design, there were quite a few problems with it in the first months of operation. One problem was the ink. Ink needed to be specifically developed for the press. It took months of trial and error before a good ink was found. Another annoying problem was the need to shut down the whole press, just to set the color registration. Instead of using precut and sized paper, a web-fed offset press uses a massive roll of paper, which provides a continuous supply to the press. This press prints both sides of the sheet at the same time. After the printed paper is slit, folded, and piled, to become either a group of pages called “signatures” or into single units such as newspapers.
It wasn’t long before another expansion of business made the Vangard obsolete. In 1978, the Jacobs traded the Vangard in for a Harris 15, which had seven components. This new Harris 15 could produce 25,000 papers per hour. It was much faster and was able to register on the move, it had automatic oilers and automatic web tension. The press was over 100 feet long.
When the press arrived, it was installed in the new building and the old press continued to be used until the new press operations were smoothed out.
In 1993, when Mel Jacobs was 78 years old, when many people think what they have is “good enough and why bother changing,” a  third addition to the plant was added to accommodate a new Harris/Heidelberg Mercury Press. This technologically advanced press had module design that allowed re-arranging or adding additional-printing units. The press had more flexibility, used less space and was easier to operate, and had many safety features. There were nine units, some stacked on top of each other that could produce 48 pages and run 30,000 impressions per hour.
It goes without saying it was the largest equipment purchase in the history of the company. To house this immense equipment, Pennington Builders was hired to add an additional 13,500 square foot expansion to the building. Since then 2 more 4 high units have been added and a double form board to increase the number of possible pages to be able print in full color. These new units are controlled by computer and inklevels can be adjusted from a console rather than turning ink keys on the units themselves.
In addition to the web press, J-Ad also owns a 4 color sheet-feed Komori used to print 4-color brochures, magazines, posters and more. A 2 color Heidelberg sheet-fed and 2 Ryobi envelope presses. One with 2 units and one with 1 unit. Apart from printing equipment, J-ad also runs 2 Mueller Martini stitchers used to staple bind and trim newspapers and magazines on a weekly basis.
In the summer of 1969, the Jacobs purchased the building located at 112 E. Court Street. This same year, the J-Ad Graphics Corporation was formed and purchased the Community Ad-Visor from the Marshall Publishing Company, Marshall, MI. The J-Ad logo was designed by Alice Jacobs and stands for "Jacobs' Advertising". Throughout the 1970s, J-Ad Graphics Printing and Publishing continued to expand and grow. For many years now the company has contracted printing from across the state. Rapid technological improvements and computerization has allowed the company to print more and more pages in shorter periods of time.The company expanded again in 1975 when the Maple Valley News was purchased. This weekly newspaper served both Nashville and Vermontville. In 1975, The Battle Creek Shopper was added to their family of papers. Over the years, other papers acquired by J-Ad Graphics, Inc. were: The Community Ad-Visor 1969; The Maple Valley News 1975; The Battle Creek Shopper News 1975; The Hastings Banner 1981; The Middleville Sun and News 1986; The Lakewood News 1988; The Weekender 1990; The Grand Rapids Real Estate Weekly 1995; Lowell Buyers Guide 2007; Lowell Ledger 2007.
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