About

History of Ovid Bell

The Bell family first came to Missouri from Virginia in 1855. Son John Peter moved to Fulton in the 1890’s and began production of his weekly newspaper-The Missouri Telegraph. His son, our founder Ovid Bell, learned the printing trade and continued in the business with his own paper – The Fulton Gazette – but Ovid Bell began to see his business evolving from a daily paper into more and more print jobs.

Ovid Bell, Founder, 1936

With the acquisition of his first periodical client in 1924, he realized that his future lay in publication printing. He sold the paper and opened shop in 1927 as The Ovid Bell Press – printer of magazines, books and law briefs. With success and growth, he constructed a new building in 1936 which housed five flat-bed presses, linotype machines and a bindery in the lower floor and administrative offices above.

Ovid H. Bell (center) 1958

After the war, Ovid’s son, Ovid H. came to work alongside his father and took over running the family business after his father died in 1953. In turn, John O. Bell began working alongside his father in 1977 and became President and then CEO after his father’s death in 1999.

Since those early days, The OBP has experienced remarkable growth and expansion, incorporating the latest technology and building upon the strong foundation of honesty, integrity and printing excellence.

As founder Ovid Bell wrote in a letter to his very first periodical client, “If we are given the job, I shall be glad to give it my personal attention …” Just as Ovid promised that first client, we promise each and every client we serve today. We will be present in the production of your magazine. We will work hard to guide your publication efficiently and successfully from digital files to printed page, and deliver to you and your customers a product we can all be proud of. If questions or concerns arise, we will listen and answer. This business is not just a job to us: this is a family’s legacy. Your publication is an integral part of that business. And what about that very first client we promised in 1924 you may be wondering? We are proud to print The Journal of the Missouri Medical Association today – a testament to the loyal and confident relationships we develop with our clients.

OBP Today

The Ovid Bell Press today might be unrecognizable to our founder. The plant has grown to 100,000 square feet. Gone are the hot metal type and the hand cart which delivered the mail to the post office. Today our clients auto-upload their files directly to a secure server and are able to approve pages online. We are equipped with direct to plate technology, heat-set web presses, and a bindery that offers saddle-stitching or perfect binding with additional ancillary services. We are a USPS approved plant load-site which means your publication goes directly into the mail-stream from our facility, or we can co-mail, drop ship, or ship directly to your door or your distributors.

John O. Bell, CEO

One thing remains unchanged at The OBP; steadfast dedication to meeting our clients’ needs. We embrace that unchanging philosophy of personal attention and service and it guides us as we continue to grow and evolve. We are committed to our employees and providing a safe workplace and competitive compensation. We are proud of our well-qualified, dedicated and motivated staff. They renew the promise to our clients every day.
We are also committed to being a good neighbor locally and we are mindful of our impact on the environment as we work toward lean manufacturing and FSC certification.