John C. Patrick Pilsworth (1871–1933) – A commercial artist and gravure engraver, an innovator and the first screenprinting consultant. Pilsworth was born in Birmingham, England to John Patrick Pilsworth (1843–1920) a lithographer from Ireland and Odelia Delia Hanley (1847–deceased). His siblings were Edward S. Pilsworth (1870–1936), Henry Arthur Pilsworth (1873–1934), Harry Pilsworth (1874–deceased), Delia Francis Pilsworth (1876–1960), Eugene Pilsworth (1878–1917), Cornelius Pilsworth (1879–1881), and Norah Pilsworth (1883–deceased). The family immigrated to the United States in 1890.

Pilsworth settled in New York New York and worked as the art director at New York Illustration Company. In 1911, Pilsworth moved to Portland, Oregon and worked in the art department of the Oregon Engraving Company, as a gravure artist. It was there that he become friends with the art director, Charles Merriman Peter (1878–1965), and the salesperson Edward Arthur Owens (1885–1959). The three friends resigned from Oregon Engraving company and opened a studio, “The Illustration Company.”

Shortly afterwards the three made the decision to move to San Francisco and there they opened a new graphic design studio. They had success and Pilsworth’s brothers Henry Pilsworth and Eugene Pilsworth moved to California and joined the studio. moved to San Francisco to join the studio. Edward Owens would resign and go to work at Emerson Pennant Company as a salesperson. Emerson was screenprinting their pennants and Edward quickly learned about the screenprinting process and informed his friends about screenprinting and how they could venture past just creating the art and begin screenprinting advertising posters, signs and more. Edward quit Emerson Pennant Company and started selling for the studio again.

Charles Calvin Moore (1866 – 1958) a politician who was between jobs at the time, was organizing the  “Panama Pacific International Exposition World’s Fair in San Francisco that was to open in on 20 February 1915 and run until 4 December 1915. The fair would celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal and the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Pacific Ocean. The fair was seen locally as an opportunity to showcase San Francisco’s recovery from the 1906 earthquake that devastated the city. The city had set aside 636-acres of land for the Exposition and the city was buzzing with excitement about the economic benefits to the city. Edward Owens realized the opportunity for screenprinted advertising posters and signage that would be needed for the exhibits and especially the need for a method for printing larger quantities of destination boards and advertising signs for the newly motorized buses or Jitneys as they were called that ferried construction workers and later the visitors to the Exposition.

In 1914, they were joined by Roy Christian Beck (1893–1984), and Jacob Harris Steinman (1881–1933) and the seven members of the group began printing posters and advertising by the screenprinting process. They named the screenprinting business as a play on the words of Edward Owens slogan, “Select a Sign for your Jitney Bus” and thus The Selectasine Company was born. Their first job was a window card for the Great Northern Pacific Steamship Company that ferried Exposition visitors between Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California.

The group of seven foresaw the need for a method for printing larger quantities of destination boards and advertising signs for the newly motorized buses, not only in San Francisco but globally. Thus, they set about creating methods to speed up the process. Together, they invented the first photoemulsion with potassium, sodium, or ammonium chloride and dichromate, glues, and gelatin compounds that reacted to actinic light. They also invented the film positive. Albeit the emulsion and film positives were substantially different than those used today. They also patented a multi-color screen printing method from a single screen that utilized the reduction process.

After the Exposition closed, the Pilsworth brothers, John, Eugene, Edward and Henry left The Selectasine Company and together with Charles Peter they opened “Pacific Poster Press” but unfortunately had little success. John Pilsworth remained loyal to the screenprinting technology he helped develop. He would become the first screenprint consultant and consulted with many screenprinting companies in the following years providing them with technical advice.

Unfortunately, Eugene Pilsworth passed away in 1917, a year after the Exposition closed.

Henry Pilsworth would work as a printer at the “American Can Company” in New York and worked for the company for some years in China.

Edward Arthur Owens, Roy Christian Beck, and Jacob Harris Steinman would continue to operate the The Selectasine Company. They filed many patents for The Selectasine Method, produced a book on how to create the process and attempted to license the rights to use the method as a franchise for a monthly fee. Unfortunately, the screenprinters would use the process without purchasing the licensing rights from Selectasine.

Lieutenant-Colonel Mark James Mayhew (1871–1944) who was owner of Battersley Flour Milling Company of Battersley, UK, obtained the United Kingdom patent rights from Selectasine in 1918 and set up a similarly named company, Selecticin, in London. Largely due to Lt. Col. Mayhew’s efforts, news of the new printing technique spread and it was adopted by a number of companies in the advertising and signwriting trades.

Edward Owens patented the first semi-automatic clam-shell screenprinting press in 1921. In 1929, he filed a patent for the vacumn bed to hold substrates while printing. This allowed up to 1500 sheets per hour to be printed. Selectasine also patented and sold a simple one color press.

Owens, Beck, and Steinman continued to file patents and later sold screenprinting materials and supplies. Jacob Harris Steinman died in 1933, leaving Beck and Owens to operate Selectasine. They remained in business until the mid-1950s. Edward Arthur Owens died in 1959, and Roy Christian Beck died in 1984.

John Pilsworth was married to Fanny Pilsworth and had two children; Dorothy V. Pilsworth (1904–deceased) and Oliver J. Pilsworth (1906–1968). John C. Patrick Pilsworth died in 1933 in Berkeley near San Francisco. Eugene Pilsworth died in 1917 in Oakland, near San Francisco. Henry Arthur Pilsworth died in 1934, and Edward S. Pilsworth died in 1936.