Happy quartoseptcentennial, Dicks & Company. You've joined the ranks of only a small handful of local companies to stick it out for 175 years.

The company that Robert Dicks launched in St. John's in 1840 as a bookbinding business now focuses largely on office supplies, but is still well-known for having sold books and printed everything from posters to periodicals.

James Austin, the company's current chair and chief executive officer, has himself had a varied career in the business.

He was appointed president in 1975, but he started back in 1956 in a much smaller role.

"It wasn't a glorious start. I was handed a broom when I first came here and directed to sweep a certain section of the floor, and that became my job for the summer," he said.

His father, James Austin II, who a year prior took over as majority shareholder, gave him that assignment — as well as a path for the rest of his career.

Look for the name E. (Edgar) Froude on the sixth line from the top. This was an entry in the company's ledger which is started in 1912. The date on the page, January 10, 1914. Froude stayed with Dick & Company and ended up being one of 94 people killed on February 23, 1918 when the SS Florizel sank after hitting a reef on its way from Newfoundland to New York.

"I went back to school after that summer and then the next year I came to work for the company full-time."

Once he moved up from the broomstick, Austin stick-handled the company into the 21st century, including making the decision four years ago to get out of the publishing business after close to a century.

"Desktop publishing and the convenience of the internet and electronic printing has made a big difference.... And we found we could not survive in the printing business any longer," said Austin.

Company started in the early Victorian era

There have been numerous changes over the decades. For vice-president David Read, that's something to be proud of.

A Dicks & Company ledger from the early 20th century, which documents that year's trade.

"I think one of the marvels of this company is that we've been able to change with the times and make sure that we have a product offering that's in demand in the marketplace," said Read.

When Robert Dicks started binding books in 1840, Queen Victoria was only in her third year of what would become 64 on the throne.

Her military, meanwhile, was fighting in a little dustup in Asia that became known as the First Opium War, which ended two years later with the cession of Hong Kong to the British.

This was also the year when Britain passed Act of Union, an act that a year later, would merge Upper and Lower Canada.

Florizel sinking resonates with company history

In the years since, company employees have seen history pass them by.

David Read pointed out one story that touched the company directly: the sinking of the SS Florizel in 1918.

A 1960s gallery camera at Dicks & Company's Empire Avenue location is too large to move. The company ceased publishing activities four years ago. (Adam Walsh)

Edgar Froude, the man in charge of the company's printing division, had booked passage on the ill-fated vessel, which sank on Feb. 24, 1918.

Froude died along with 93 other passengers.

Froude's name is listed in an old ledger from 1912 that is kept to this day at Dicks & Company's current St. John's location on Empire Avenue. [Many of the company's earliest records were destroyed in the Great Fire of 1892.]

When Read takes in the company's history, he jokes about his relatively short stint with the company, which also has offices in Grand Falls-Windsor and Carbonear.

"I've only been with the company 30 years. I'm a little junior to some people here," he said.

When it comes to the company's staying power, Read says it's about adapting with the times.

"We're 175 years old this year. We're older than business machines."