Aluminum Ludlow Mats

[Jimbo]

Hi Folks:  Just acquired 2 sets Ludlow Mats which seem to be made of aluminum or a similar alloy.  They cast letters in reverse and have special mats on the ends of the lines to create a banner effect.  They look to be in fine condition, but upon casting, darn if they are not showing hairlines.  Oh well, only blew $5 US for them - guess the drawers were worth that.  14 and 18 point - are shown in the Ludlow Book I have which seems to be of English era.
Record Gothic.  Curious if anyone knows the story of these.  Also, is there any recommendation (which I doubt) for cleaning minor corrosion from the face of Ludlow mats?  Have some really good ones and seen very little use, but some mats have small amount of corrosion on edges of letter.  Of course, shows up on the slugs and sometimes in print.

Jimbo

[Dave Hughes]

Hi Jimbo, welcome to the Metal Type forum.

These mats have certainly got me baffled. If you want to email me some pics I'll be able to put them up on this thread for you - might help other people identify them!

Email to metaltype-AT-gmail.com