Chilton Company

Chilton Company (AKA Chilton Printing Co., Chilton Publishing Co., Chilton Book Co. and Chilton Research Services) is a former publishing company, most famous for its trade magazines, and automotive manuals. It also provided conference and market research services to a wide variety of industries. Chilton grew from a small publisher of a single magazine to a leading publisher of business-to-business magazines, consumer and professional automotive manuals, craft and hobby books, and a large, well-known marketing research company.

In the early years, its flagship magazine was Iron Age. In 1955, Chilton's profit reached $1 million for the first time, of which Iron Age accounted for $750,000. By 1980, Iron Age's revenue and status had declined due to the reduction in the size of the US metalworking manufacturing industry, and Jewelers Circular Keystone captured the position of Chilton's most profitable magazine. While Chilton had leading magazines in several different industries, the Chilton name is most strongly associated with the consumer and professional automotive manuals, which Cengage continues to license or publish.