Continenta

Linotype Continenta

The Continenta could be had as a manually-operated machine offering 28/34/42 Cicero line widths (30/36/42em equivalents) or as a tape-operated version able to cast at speeds of 10 to 15 lines per minute. Weight: 1850kg.

It was a two-magazine mixer utilising standard 90-channel magazines and had a mould wheel with four water-cooled moulds. Hydraquadder and Mohr saw could be added as extras to the basic specification and the machine shown in the colour illustration is thus equipped.

Obviously intended as a high-speed basic text setter when running on tape, the addition of mixing capability offered the useful additional capability of setting classified advertising in small text sizes with semi-display lines being able to be introduced—say 5½pt/12pt. German Linotype had introduced many imaginative computer programs allowing such operations to be carried out using such a machine.

Linotype Continenta (side view)

Europa

A Linotype Europa
There were two versions of this design, the original and the Europa G Quick, both of which were designed principally for high-speed tape operation but which could also be used manually.

As regards the first-mentioned, it was a four-magazine mixer weighing-in at 2000kg equipped with four water-cooled 28 Cicero (30em) moulds, with provision for extension to 34 Cicero (36em) operation. Magazines were 90-channel configuration. Hydraquadder and Mohr saw could be had as extras and  the remarks previously given regarding provision of these features applies again.

Linotype Europa from the rear
 

German Linotype described it as “the star machine for difficult composition tasks”, and who is to argue with that? Speed range was from 8 to 14 lines per minute, and it must be fascinating to watch such a machine in operation mixing from all four magazines on a continuous basis, for which there were five sets of distributor screws—although the top one, having performed its work fairly quickly, did not run the full width, as can be seen in the illustration showing the back of the machine, where it will be seen that the pie shute starts its descent only about a third of the way across the width of the magazines. Also of note in this picture are the free-standing lower steps which don’t look very secure (one hopes they were attached to the main frame by some means). The TTS operating unit is on the extreme left.

Europa G

Similar in many respects to its predecessor with one important difference—it could use a combination of 70-channel and 90-channel magazines in various combinations so that a comprehensive range of straight text and heading work could be produced at high-speed.

Normally linecasters setting 18pt and 24pt faces were equipped with 72-channel magazines, so the 70-channel configuration on this machine was unusual and may have been designed to widen some of the channels to accommodate full-width capitals such as M and W which may have been too wide for a 72-channel magazine: thus it was possible to accommodate such faces, as well as condensed faces up to 36pt. The keyboard automatically adjusted itself to react to which type of magazine was being used.

Also when running on tape the G was described as being fully automatic and able to alter which magazine was in use, change the mould wheel and the knifeblock settings—all features which would of course have been necessary when changing between, say, 6, 8 or 10pt text setting coupled with headings ranging from 16pt to 36pt. When running on tape it must have been a very exciting machine to see in action as it was doing all this stuff with no human intervention. No doubt the human monitor looking after several such machines all rattling away at 14 lines per minute would have been fully occupied in keeping them all in motion!

Quadriga

Linotype Quadriga

This machine was the German version of the English Model 79 or the American Comet—a high speed model capable of casting 15 newspaper-measure lines per minute when working on tape. It could also be operated manually, when the casting rate could be stepped-down to take account of the fact that not many operators were capable of working at such a high speed and thus there was no valid reason for the machine to be subjected to such wear and tear when there was no call for it. Slowest casting speed was 10 lines per minute.

Unlike its American and English forebears, the Quadriga was equipped with four 90-channel magazines and these were sloped at the steeper 54-degree angle common to all three machines, ensuring that the mats did not hang around once summoned from the keyboard. There was no mixing facility, as the machine was intended as a fast straight text-setter. Hydraquadder and Mohr saw were obtainable as extras; the former would be fairly essential in both manual and tape-operated state, whereas the saw would really only be needed if manual operation was envisaged. The knifeblock could deal with slugs up to 42pt, which again was a feature not needed if tape operation was chosen.

The weight was 2100kg. Four-pocket water-cooled mould wheel. As can be seen in the illustration, the tape-control operating unit was a neat self-contained independent unit named the Lino-Quick Setter which stood to the right of the machine and was connected to it by cable.

Delta

Linotype Delta

This is what might be called the “base model” in the German Linotype “New Line” range of machines and is a four-magazine manually-operated non-mixer which could be compared to the English Model 78 or the American Model 31.

In its basic form it was fitted with mould equipment for casting from 6pt to 12pt, though alternative equipment could be substituted and the standard knife block could in any case trim slugs up to 42pt. Casts lines up to 28 Cicero (equivalent to 30ems). Weight: 1730kg.

Extras which could be added to the basic machine included a water-cooled mould wheel (“a Linotype patent for the last 20 years, the guarantee for casting quality”); Lino Hydraquadder; Lino Mohr saw; and capability to cast up to 34 Cicero (the equivalent of 36ems).

The machine illustrated is fitted with the hydraquadder (controlled from the right-hand side of the keyboard) and Mohr saw and is the only model in the range to have the normal dual handles to elevate the assembled line of matrices and spacebands en route to the first elevator prior to casting (other models have push-button control, whilst the Universa has a simplified manual lifter).

A good common-sense basic machine capable of casting at eight lines per minute or could be souped-up to 11 lines per minute at extra cost.

German new-line Linotypes

The final flowering of the linecaster

By: BRUCE ANDERTON

AT the start of the 1960s hot metal composition was still the major source of typesetting in many branches of the printing industry, and though much thought and effort was being expended in developing replacements using photographic techniques, the old order still reigned supreme in many areas and the major manufacturers—Linotype, Intertype, Monotype and Ludlow—were still introducing new machines and typefaces and providing spares for their hot metal systems.

New line brochures

In America Mergenthaler Linotype and Harris-Intertype had introduced new linecasters which were designed to be driven from tape and were thus faster-running—normally operating at around 12 lines per minute on newspaper measures of 11½ems or thereabouts. Anyone who has seen such machines in operation will have been impressed by the speeded-up production rates compared to manually-operated equivalents.

Elektrons & Monarchs

In the newspaper field especially, such increased productivity was welcomed by managements worldwide. Leading examples of such equipment were Linotype’s “Elektron”, which incorporated much new engineering in its design, and Intertype’s “Monarch”, which although streamlined in appearance was in reality a linecaster retaining traditional features but speeded-up to accommodate the faster casting speeds now being demanded; its major surprise feature was in fact a deletion—one version could be obtained which did not have a keyboard, something that was no longer necessary when the machine spent all its working hours being driven by tape on the teletypesetter (TTS) system.

Thus it will be noted that the major influence in linecaster development came from the USA—but on this side of the Atlantic there was also development work afoot in the hot metal field, with Linotype & Machinery of Altrincham, Cheshire (English Linotype) ready to introduce a new four-magazine variant of its successful high-speed Model 79, whilst in Germany Mergenthaler Linotype GmbH (German Linotype) had a much more ambitious line-up of no less than six new models waiting to be launched: the “Neue Linie” or “New Line” range. Was it too good to be true?

Alas, it would appear so. Mergenthaler Linotype in the US, having spent a great deal of money on developing and manufacturing the Elektron, was anxious to sell it wherever it could on a worldwide basis and word was sent to the English and German companies to hold back from announcing their new machines and to offer the Elektron to all prospective customers wishing to buy new hot metal equipment. Thus the 794 in England and the “New Line” machines in Germany were sidelined and the Elektron was promoted as a suitable alternative to prospective customers, many of whom did not really need such a complicated and high-speed machine, and of course they also did not want to pay the increased prices being demanded.

Unfortunately, the all-new Elektron in its original form had far too many faults and what I would call “under-engineered” features which very soon began to act against it and it soon gained a reputation for unreliability. (As an aside I would quote the experience of one company I worked for which installed an Elektron which was only ever going to be operated manually on general jobbing work and would thus never be a 12-lines-a-minute wonder. It created so many problems for its operator that he eventually suffered a nervous breakdown and as a result of the constant mechanical failures it was arranged with L&M at Altrincham that the machine would be returned in part-exchange for a new Model 78, which was really all that had been needed in the first place! When I joined the company some years later all the setting was done on two Model 78s.)

Agreement for supply of 500 Elektrons

In 1966 an article appeared in L&M News, the house journal of Linotype & Machinery, which stated that an agreement had been signed between the German and English Linotype companies for the manufacture and supply by L&M of no less than five hundred Elektrons over a seven-year period, with an initial batch of 60 machines then being in course of delivery to Germany.

Whether this order was ever fulfilled—and to what extent—is not known, but it does highlight the lengths to which the American parent company was prepared to go in order to promote its problem child, for despite modifications carried out to the design by L&M engineers which made the Elektron much more reliable than had previously been the case, there were still far too many novelties which were constantly leading to unreliability “in the field” in a machine marketed as being capable of constant high speed operation, where any design defects could soon lead to unacceptable periods of “downtime” or even complete shutdown (a newspaper establishment where I worked acquired an Elektron which had an extremely short “working” life as a tape-operated machine before being part-exchanged for a new Model 78SM which was operated manually on display advertisement setting, an area completely unsuited to TTS operation).

It would appear that 1966 marked a turning point in the Battle of the Elektron and it may well have been the time when the English and German companies were allowed to start marketing their own products again (I believe that it had been the case that they had been able to continue marketing machines that did not compete with or challenge the Elektron, thus both concerns were able to continue manufacturing and selling existing linecasters to customers not needing to be on the cutting edge of technology). Now the coast was clear for the Germans to launch what was probably the most exciting range of advanced linecasting machines ever built—the “New Line”.

Take a look at the “Related Pages” menu to see details and pictures of the individual models.

Linotype fan? Don’t miss the Linotype Chat section of the Metal Type Forum.

Wairoa Star Centenary September 2021

Wairoa Star first edition
The first edition of the Wairoa Star, September 1921

A regular contributor to Metal Type, Graeme How,  got in touch to tell me about his local newspaper, The Wairoa Star, celebrating its centenary.

We have four pages of articles about the Wairoa Star sent in by Graeme, check the “Related Pages” menu to see the others.

Said Graham: “I started my apprenticeship there in January 1969 and retired in December 2016.”

Here Graeme tells us how production of the newspaper has changed over the years.

Graeme added: “I still do the odd day’s work there filling in.

“It’s amazing how technology has progressed from black and white to the modern era of colour graphics and photographs. To think I started with hot type and ended up operating an internet based newspaper production system.”

Wairoa Star front pager 2021
Front page of the Wairoa Star 100 centenary edition.

 

Model C Nebitype Restoration

Nebitype Model C
Rob Clarkson standing beside the Nebitype

The Press Gang team that work as volunteers in the print shop in The Settler Building at Taranaki Pioneer Museum in Stratford NZ had a great win over Queen’s Birthday week-end 2019 with the first composed line being cast on their recently-acquired Model C Nebitype line casting machine (Serial No. 78).

It was donated to us by The Printing Museum, Wellington, NZ in 2018. From the beginning of restoration of the machine Rob Clarkson has been at the forefront although there’s been a handful of other people that have helped along the way, notably John Nicholson, with grateful assistance from Doug Holland.

Alan Penfold and me helped on occasions by scratching our heads and passing spanners to Rob whilst doing our best impressions of Mad Scientists. One of the biggest hurdles in the machine’s restoration has been finding manuals for it. Bill Nairn from The Printing Museum in Wellington has helped with a series of loan and copy diagrams and brochures. These were of some use but they mostly refer to the later model Ultra-E machine (of which we have one – also to be restored).

From the titbits of anecdotal stories on printing circles web pages around the world I doubt very much if there is another working model of this Nebitype machine anywhere. Pioneer should well be proud they have this, as well as the recently-restored Schelter & Giesecke platen printing press ex Eltham Argus, found in a dump by Rob and restored primarily by him, again with help from John Nicholson making geared cogs for it.

Rob says there is still a little “tweaking” to be done, and we have a small “mouthpiece” heating issue to deal with but we feel the Nebitype is now well on the way to being another working asset for the Settler Building. It will enable us to cast larger sizes of type than the Linotype machine can. I’m sure as the months progress our team will learn more of the abilities of this amazing machine built in Italy we believe some time in the 1950’s.

A repeat cast line

We used standard Ludlow mats with the Nebitype Ludlow stick and changed the casting head to the correct head for Ludlow mats. We can see how confusing it would have been for folk to get the right casting head-stick-matrice combination, and why how so easily one could get a “splash” as we did once or twice.

William Caxton Quincentenary

Many thanks to Mike Wilson for sending in this picture of a poster that he bought in 1976.
It seems to have been very well produced and Mike tells me it is in excellent condition.

Bad Handwriting!

Many thanks to Mike Wilson, from Yorkshire in the UK, for sending in this story.

Says Mike:

One of the hazards of typesetting is the possibility error. In the ‘old’ days, the days of hot metal, all typeset material was checked by the printer’s reader. The reader and his assistant often inhabited a quiet part of the building so they could concentrate. The reader’s assistant took the original copy and read it aloud to the reader, who kept his eye on the typeset material. Should there be a discrepancy between what was on copy and the proof, the reader made the relevant mark on the proof so that it could be corrected.

In some houses, there was no assistant and the reader’s eyes had to flick from copy to proof, back and forth all day.

Small Property Advert

On one occasion, the proof reader was checking a small property advert which I had typeset. On the proof, the price of the house read £69,000. The price on the copy was badly hand written, the digits appearing as several loops one after the other.

The reader knew I had set the ad and, as he knew I was also the overseer, he ticked the proof as correct. If I thought the price was £69,000, then that was good enough for him.

The following day I had to fend off an irate customer who went on and on about the stupidity of people who worked at the Times (Driffield, that is). It was explained to him that his hand-writing could be interpreted in two ways, either as £60,000 or £69,000. He insisted that he had written £60,000, but more than one person in the building read it as £69,000. Nothing would alleviate his anger. He demanded a repeat (corrected) advert the following week plus an apology.

All this was arranged immediately, and the atmosphere in the office returned to normal.

Late the following Wednesday afternoon, just before the pages were ready for despatch to the printer in Scarborough, a phone call came through for me from the advertising department.

The house seller was asking if the correction had been done and if his free ad was in place. We replied that this task had been done.

He then asked if the new ad and the apology could be removed.

We had to ask why, didn’t we? His reply amazed us.

He had sold the house for £69,000 and therefore didn’t need the apology.

The vendor made an extra £9,000 on the sale of his house and he didn’t even thank us for the error. Neither did he send a crate of beer round for the lads.

If you liked this story you may also like Printers’ Tales a compilation of similar stories, available in ebook and paperback formats.

1954 Compositors Handbook

Many Thanks to Mike Wilson, from Yorkshire in the UK, for sending in this story.

This 104-page booklet was full of tables and facts for the printing trade.

Following a diary, there were tables for working out night rate payments, starting from £6 10s 6d (£6.51) per week. Then followed four pages of the correct symbols for correcting proofs, and more pages on casting off for Monotype composition. Casting off enabled one to find how many lines would fit a certain page depth.

Sizes of cards were given as well as figures for the calculation of income tax. Facts about poster work, punctuation and foreign currency followed.

Imposition was explained at length and included section heads of Signatures, Gutters, Backs, Heads, Tails and Off-Cuts. Imposition was a skill I never mastered.

Book Founts

Near the end of the book there were pages of book founts from the Stephenson Blake and Caslon foundries: Old Style, Plantin, Bodoni, Modern No.17, Modern No.20, Caslon Old Face, Perpetua, Verona, Cheltenham, Baskerville, Bell, Bembo, Blado, Centaur, Ehrhardt, Fournier, Garamond, Gill, Goudy, Imprint, Lutetia, Poliphilus, Rockwell, Romulus, Scotch Roman, Times, Van Dijck and Walbaum. Some of these typefaces have all but disappeared, but to the man in the street they all look like this font (Book Antiqua).

The typeface Times Roman was designed to fit the narrow columns of newspapers, aDetails of a 1954 nd is now a default font for newspapers and magazines. I prefer Antiqua as it is a little wider and I like my work to be a little different. Antiqua is a ‘serif’ typeface, while Arial is ‘non-serif.’ Serifs are the small finials to the letter. Serif fonts have characters which vary in width, while sans serif do not.