Stefano Johnson factory, envelope, 1922

The origins of the Johnson factory date back to 1836, when the Englishman Giacomo Johnson set up a workshop in which buttons and badges in stamped metal were made. On the death of the founder, the business was continued by his son Stefano who gave greater impetus to the production of medals and at the same time changed the company name to Stefano Johnson - Medal factory.
In the following years the production of medals continued to meet the favor of a public made up of associations, public and private bodies, religious orders and exponents of the noble Ambrosian families. In 1880, after Stefano's death, his son Federico - who had joined the company four years earlier - took over the reins of the company, putting in place a policy of consolidation and transformation that would have given a turning point to the entire company complex. In particular, he proceeded with the purchase of the molds of the Mint of Milan (ceased in 1878) and began a long process of modernizing the machinery that would end in 1911 with the inauguration of a new factory. At that time the production had gradually been oriented towards commemorative medals of arms events and illustrious men engaged in industrial development and public management. With the outbreak of the First World War and following the numerous state orders, the production focused further on military events and then was forced to indulge the prevailing taste during the Fascist period. In August 1943 the social facility suffered extensive damage caused by bombing, which forced Stefano Johnson, Federico's son, to almost completely interrupt the activity for three years.
In the following decades the company's activity continued in compliance with a tradition that has always seen the company confront itself with the best artists in the sector and this in parallel with the constant search for the most avant-garde technical solutions .