Imperial Metal & Chemical Company manufactured metal plates for the graphic arts industry. The firm began as the Imperial Metal Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was incorporated on February 12, 1913. It was renamed the Imperial Type Metal Company on March 12, 1915. The company was founded by Wilson S. Yerger and specialized in the manufacture of type metal for all kinds of printing, its prime selling points being its in-house metallurgical laboratory and close attention to customer needs. Additional plants were opened in Cleveland (1916), Detroit (1920), and Chicago (1925). With the obsolescence of hot-metal type, the company was renamed the Imperial Metal & Chemicals Company on October 1, 1965. It sold all of its assets to the Richardson Company of Ohio and was dissolved in January 1969.