In 1850 Francis Adams established himself in business, in Montreal, under the name of F. Adams, General Engraver. The work at this time was comprised of the engraving of fine jewelry, silverware, engraved stationery and brass signs.

Circa 1880 Mr. Adams brought his son Carl, into the business and the name was changed to F. Adams & Co. General Engravers.

The business continued to grow in all areas of engraving. Then in the early years of the 1900's there was a surge in the demand for brass signs and memorial tablets. This continued until the 1930's. Power presses were developed, which contributed greatly to the growth of the engraved stationery part of the business. Engraved greeting cards becoming very popular.

In 1910, Stanley Denman joined the firm as an engraver and after several years he entered into partnership with Carl Adams. In 1923 he acquired sole ownership of the business.

When the depression came in the 1930's, the engraving business, like most business, was hard hit and struggled to survive. At the end of the 1930's business began to improve but it was not until after the Second World War that there was a major resurgence in the business. Two things brought this about. Firstly business stationery was no longer looked upon as a necessary expense and as little money as possible should be spent on it, but it now became a marketing and advertising tool portraying the company's image. The second major contribution was the development of fully automatic presses. This greatly reduced the cost and time involved for producing orders, thereby increasing the market for larger production press runs.

In 1949, Walton Denman, Stanley’s son, joined the firm.

With the advent of costume jewelry, the demand for quality engraving in the jewelry field was diminishing and the demand for brass name plates, signs and memorial tablets was dropping, therefore it was decided to eliminate these lines and concentrate in the area of engraved stationery.

In keeping with this decision, the company kept abreast with any new developments in the area of plate making and pressroom equipment. This decision paid off and the company became the leader in its field.

In 1967, Walton took control of the Company and it was incorporated with a federal charter, under the names Adams Engraving Limited / Les Gravures Adams Limitée.

By this time Adams Engraving had become the oldest and largest producer of engraved stationery in Canada, and to this time has maintained its position.