It All Started with a Pen | The Story of Blick
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In the early 1900s, every store window in America depended on a skilled hand and a steady pen. Before digital printing and standardized signage, retail signs were meticulously hand-lettered—a craft that required precision, speed, and the right materials.
Blick Art Materials was born from that craft. What started in 1911 as a small mail-order business has grown into the largest art supply retailer in the United States. This is the story of Blick’s beginnings and the best-selling tool that started it all: the Payzant Pen.
The Showcard Writer
Born in 1882 in Galesburg, Illinois, Dick Ernest Blick was the son of English immigrants. He grew up in his father's dry goods store, where hand-lettered displays were part of daily business. Likely practiced from an early age, he went on to study lettering and window trimming at Chicago's Koester School.
His specialty was showcard writing, a forgotten commercial art that powered retail before the age of digital printing. Placed in windows and on counters, hand-lettered showcards announced new merchandise, promoted sales, and drew in customers. The work demanded equal parts speed and style.
Blick had both. Working across pen, brush, and early airbrush systems, he combined bold lettering, stylized alphabets, and graphic flourishes to catch eyes and drive sales. He also published lettering guides featuring original alphabets for others in the trade and earned national recognition, including a second-place award at the National Association of Window Trimmers of America convention.
And like most artists, he paid close attention to his tools.
The Payzant Pen
The story goes that Blick was shopping in Chicago when he noticed an unusual craftsman's pen and immediately recognized what it could do for showcard work.
The Payzant was a single-stroke lettering pen designed to form complete letters in one fluid motion. It came in six sizes, with a curved nib and an adjustable gap between the tines that let artists control line width on the fly. A built-in reservoir kept the ink flowing without constant refilling, and the pen produced a consistent line regardless of direction, allowing a showcard writer to move from bold headlines to fine detail without switching tools.
Traditional broad-edged pens and sign-painting tools weren’t built for showcard lettering, especially as uniform-width Gothic styles gained popularity in the U.S. The Payzant solved that problem cleanly.
Blick adapted the pen to his trade—and soon realized that he had found a tool worth building a business around.
Building Blick
In 1911, Blick and his wife Grace launched The Card Writer’s Supply Company. The entire operation—a typewriter and a stock of Payzant Pens ready to ship—fit on their kitchen table.
The timing was right. Chicago, just a few hours north, was the capital of American mail-order commerce. Catalogs benefited from special low postal rates, and the U.S. Postal Service had more than doubled its reach in previous decades.
The Payzant No. 1 sold for a dollar. By 1913, Merchants Record and Show Window, the leading trade journal for window trimmers and showcard writers, was running Blick’s ads. Orders followed from around the country, with customers ranging from professional sign makers to librarians creating desk bulletins.
As the business grew, so did the catalog: Blick Masterstroke Brushes, Blick Black Cat Card Writing Colors, paints, poster paper, inks, and cardboard. The Card Writer’s Supply Company became Dick Blick Art Supplies, and the customer base expanded to include painters, illustrators, teachers, and students.
A Legacy of Growth
In 1948, Robert Metzenberg purchased the company, becoming Blick’s “second founder” and ushering in a new era of growth. Under Metzenberg family ownership—now in its third generation—Blick Art Materials grew from a mail-order business into the largest art supply retailer in the United States .
The first Blick retail store opened in Galesburg in 1974, and the catalog expanded to more than 400 pages, eventually evolving into an online assortment of over 90,000 products. Today, Blick operates more than 60 stores nationwide.
What began with a single pen for a single craft evolved into a destination for artists and creatives of every kind, from professional artists and K–12 educators to students, writers, and first-time hobbyists. Blick Black Cat India Ink, an original catalog staple, remains a customer favorite.
While the tools have evolved, our mission remains the same: connecting analog creators with the very best materials.
BLICK Milestones Timeline
1911
Dick and Grace Blick begin the company starting with sales of the Payzant Pen.
1933
BLICK's iconic "Running Man" is created to represent the company's promise of being "the fastest shipper in America."
1948
Robert Metzenberg purchases the company from Dick Blick, becoming the company's "second founder". The family-owned business is now in its third generation.
1950
BLICK's original Masterstroke brushes are promoted and become a success.
1956
The Grand Avenue warehouse is constructed in Galesburg, IL.
1961
BLICK celebrates its 50-year anniversary.
1974
The first BLICK retail store opens in Galesburg, IL.
1984
BLICK's annual catalog expands to 400-plus pages.
1997
BLICK launches its first website.
2001
BLICK's state-of-the-art distribution center is built in Galesburg, IL.
2004
BLICK acquires The Art Store chain of 11 retail stores.
2007
BLICK implements ACE program focusing on safety, attendance, quality, and productivity to serve its expanding workforce.
2011
The Art Media store in Portland, OR and the Primary Art store in Savannah, GA are acquired. A mural commemorating BLICK's 100-year anniversary is given to the City of Galesburg.
2012
BLICK makes its 10 millionth customer order.
2013
BLICK acquires 40 retail stores and paint manufacturing facility from Utrecht Art Supplies based in Brooklyn, NY.
2015
BLICK opens a third distribution center in Monroe Township, NJ to better serve east coast customers and retail stores.
2016
BLICK achieves Great Place to Work® certification for the first time in the 2015-2016 year. It continues its commitment to increase associate satisfaction and attract top talent.
2017
Highlighting unique associate talent, BLICK continues to invest in the Artists Serving Artists program and launches the first Associate Art Show to connect our team's artwork with creative customers.
2018
An industry first, BLICK adds a range of cadmium-free oil colors to its Utrecht line, and later adds acrylics and watercolors.
2019
BLICK receives certification as a Great Place to Work®, achieving this accomplishment for five consecutive years.
2020
BLICK offers Curbside Pick-Up at retail stores across the country as an option for shoppers to get the supplies they need quickly.
2020
BLICK is voted #1 Best Online Shops across 1,000 companies and Best Customer Service by Newsweek.
2021
For two straight years, BLICK is voted among America’s Best in Customer Service and Best Online Shop by Newsweek.
2022
BLICK is voted #1 Best Online Shops across 1,000 companies and Best Customer Service for a third consecutive year by Newsweek.
2023
Blick is voted #1 for Best Online Shops and Best Customer Service for Arts & Crafts for the fourth consecutive year by Newsweek.
2023
BLICK is certified as a Great Place to Work® for the sixth year. The prestigious recognition is entirely determined by employees' real-time experience of working at BLICK.
2024
BLICK is voted Best Customer Service and Best Online Shops by Newsweek, achieving five-year champion status in the Arts & Crafts category.
2024
Brooklyn-based Utrecht celebrates 75 years of providing the highest quality artist's paint, mediums, canvas and more.
2025
Blick tops Newsweek's list of America's Best Customer Service and Best Online Shops for the sixth consecutive year.
2026
Blick is named to Newsweek’s lists of America’s Best Online Shops and Best Customer Service for the seventh consecutive year.
