Editing Western Publishing (section)

===1950s===

Guild Press, Inc., a publisher of Catholic books, religious greeting cards, and gift wrap, was purchased in the early 1950s. In 1955, a new specialty printing plant was built in [[Hannibal, Missouri]]. Western achieved sales of $63 million in 1957, the year of its 50th anniversary. In the same year the company acquired Kable Printing Company, a large [[rotogravure]] magazine printer.<ref name="WPGHistory" />

With partners Dell and Simon & Schuster, the company sponsored the Story Book Shop on [[Main Street, U.S.A.]], in [[Disneyland]] which opened on July 17, 1955, and closed April 1, 1995.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 17, 1990 |title=Chronology of Disneyland Theme Park (1990-1999) |url=http://www.islandnet.com/~kpolsson/disland/dl1990.htm |access-date=May 12, 2014 |publisher=Islandnet.com}}</ref> In addition it was one of the initial investors in the park by virtue of being a part-owner of [[Disneyland, Inc.]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Dan |date=March 24, 2013 |title=Disneyland, Inc. and the Business of Western Publishing's Disneyland Comic Books |url=http://icanbreakaway.blogspot.ca/2013/03/disneyland-inc-and-business-of-western.html |access-date=August 17, 2015 |website=icanbreakaway.blogspot.ca}}</ref>

Western and [[Pocket Books]], Inc. formed Golden Press, Inc. at the end of 1958 following their joint purchase of all Golden Book properties from Simon and Schuster. The arrangement called for Western to continue to create and manufacture Golden Books which Pocket Books would promote, sell, and distribute. By 1959, over 150 Little Golden Book titles had sold at least a million copies, and more than 400 of the 1,000-plus Golden Book titles were in print in thirteen languages.<ref name="WPGHistory" />