In 1896, the first U.S. patent for an addressing machine, the Addressograph was issued to Joseph Smith Duncan of Sioux City, Iowa.
The principal for the foundation came from business interests in the Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Co. of Lincoln, Nebraska, the Sahara Coal Co. headquartered in Chicago with mines in Saline County in far Southern Illinois, and Addressograph-Multigraph Corp. of Cleveland, Ohio.
Ralph, a U.S. Navy veteran, was employed by National Cash Register, Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed, and Addressograph Multigraph, and later owned a printing business.