Letterpress Newspapers

[Dave Hughes]

Received from William Smith via email:

Does anyone have a list of currently published newspapers using Hot lead Type? or maybe a conbination of Linotype, ludlow and and cold type processes? I only know of one in state of Ohio(US)

Aaron has posted the following on this board:

For the past three years I have been getting a weekly newspaper 11x17 set on a Linotype 8 and printed on a letterpress press.
The paper is:

South Y-W Star
P.O. 8

Kirk CO 80824-008

Very nice man prints the paper.
His name is: Hubert Eugen Thomas
APA no. 775
Member of the Rocky Mtn. Letterpress Society

I love reading, it takes me back to the days I was a letterpressman. I started in te early 60's.

Aaron

Then there's this article that was recently added to Metal Type about Australia's last letterpress newspaper:

The Don Dorrigo Gazette and Guy Fawkes Advocate

[rag451]

There's one hot type paper left in Texas if I recall, somewhere up northeast of Dallas. I have an article on it somewhere I'll track down...

The newspaper in Burleson, The Burleson Dispatcher was, as of 1983, one of the final six hot type papers in the State of Texas. I have an article from the Cleburne Times-Review that discusses the paper. Dave, I'll e-mail you picture and content if you'd like...?

Robert

[Dave Hughes]

Look forward to receiving it Robert!

[rag451]

The Trenton Tribune in Fannin County (north of Dallas, Texas), still utilizes hot type. The full article is here.

I have it on my list of places to see.

Robert Griffith
Burleson, Texas

From the Dallas Morning News:

TRENTON – You'll never hear the editor yell "Stop the presses!" at the  Trenton Tribune.

First, there's nobody for Tom "Mac" Holmes to shout it to.

Then, these presses will never stop rolling. After all, they've worked just fine since 1909, when Tom's grandfather and father started the newspaper in this small Fannin County town an hour northeast of Dallas.

Like Tom, the linotype and printing presses just keep going with only a little tender, loving care. Though he no longer prints the weekly Tribune here (that's now done at an Oklahoma printing plant), Tom still prints advertising and fliers on these antiques every week.
Also Online

Editor Tom Holmes describes his vintage machines

Why not update his technology to the 21st century?

"Well, I do have computers I use, but these old machines are family heirlooms," he says. "Besides, upgrading equipment is too expensive for a little print shop like this one."

And though it doesn't say "museum" outside, that's exactly what this newspaper office is.

"I get visitors in here all the time, asking to see the machines run," Tom says. "I'm glad to show them, but usually folks just want to see and hear them, not really know all the inner workings."

Tom is more than the linotype operator, newspaper reporter, advertising executive and official tour guide at the Tribune. He also is the entertainer.

He's a country and Western singer and a member of the Texas Western Swing Music Hall of Fame. He'll gladly pick up his guitar and sing a few bars of Irving Berlin's "Marie" to cap your tour.

Where else can you get this much entertainment and not even have to buy a newspaper?

I asked Tom why he continues to wear every hat at the Trib, even the janitor's and delivery guy's.

"Can't find good help," he tells me. "Or if I could, I couldn't pay them what they deserve. Heck, I don't make what I deserve, come to think of it."

As you can tell, Tom's a philosopher, too.

What are the biggest and smallest stories he's covered lately, I asked.

He thought for a moment and said, "The biggest was the May tornado in nearby Westminster and Pilot Grove, and the smallest was probably when cattle got loose in town here. But then, that happens all the time."

You can find these and more stories yourself in the archives upstairs, where hundreds of old, yellowed newspapers line the shelves, a treasure trove of Trenton's history. Just reading the advertisements from the 1940s is incredibly entertaining.

There are no set hours at the Tribune, but if Tom's here, he'll put on his museum curator hat and show you around, even let you try your hand at typesetting – "one letter at a time."

It's a skill you may never need, but you'll have it all the same.