The Griffin Press was originally The Advertiser Printing Office, founded in Adelaide in 1858 as the book printing subsidiary of The Advertiser newspaper. By 1880 it was housed in a two-storey premise in Waymouth Street, Adelaide, and in 1931 it acquired The Register printing plant. After 1937, when Douglas Dunstan took over as managing director, the firm developed a reputation as a prestige printer and binder, and produced some fine printing in limited editions.
In a period of rapid growth after the Second World War the firm began investing in new printing technologies, including offset lithography and die stamping, as well as adding automatic bookbinding facilities. In 1953 it acquired Adelaide's prestigious Hassell Press, and having used the symbol of a griffin since 1945, in 1954 became The Griffin Press. In 1964 the company consolidated all its operations in a state-of-the-art facility at Netley, near Adelaide.
The Griffin Press became part of Pacific Magazines and Printing Ltd (PMP) in 1991, and continued as a printing subsidiary of that organisation. The Press relocated to Salisbury South in 2006, where it offers a 'fully integrated book manufacturing facility'. In mid-June 2007 Griffin Press merged with McPherson's. Both trading names continued to be used.
