Yesterday’s Technology . . . Today!
Historical items
Built in Manchester, this Square-Based Model 1 Linotype is one of the first British-made linecasters. The model’s square base was later made smaller, and then changed to a star shape.
Model 1 Linotypes had a 90-character keyboard. The back-loaded single magazine could take matrices up to 11 point in type size.
THE WHITTAKER COLLECTION of linecasters was put together by Mr H Peter Whittaker whose company sold and repaired linecasters.
The collection is currently in storage room 2 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester.
To see the various machines, use the Related Pages menu.
Mike Wilson sent in this account, along with photographs, of his recent visit to the American South West.
Says Mike: ” During a three-week visit to the American South-West, I saw more printing equipment than I had seen for years.
Taken from a Linotype brochure published in Berlin in the 1930s. Some quite unusual machines.
Linotype fan? Don’t miss the Linotype Chat section of the Metal Type Forum.
Thanks to Teo Pelho, from Finland, for sending in these pictures, taken at the Deutsches Museum, Munich and the Gutenberg Museum, Mainz, Germany.
I have very little information about the pictures, so if you think you can “flesh out” any of the captions, please post your suggestions here. Please refer to the pictures by number.
Thanks to Don Mountain for sending in this material that documents the completion and delivery of the 200,000th Heidelberg press in 1968/69.
This article was published in “Seclarion” the newsletter of Seligson & Clare (Aust) Pty Ltd, the Australian Agents for Heidelberg at that time.
Many thanks to Flickr user Gridula for allowing these photographs that he took at the John Jarrold Printing Museum, in Norwich, Norfolk, UK to be used on Metal Type.
Says Gridula: “An absolutely stunning example of a smaller Soldan Lightning Proof Press. I didn’t even know this was in the museum so when I walked round the corner and saw this I nearly fell over.
I recently paid a visit to the Beck Isle Museum of Rural Life, where they have recreated what they thought a small rural printing office would have looked like in the late 19th Century.
I found the imprint on this one quite interesting. It says: “Printed at the office of R Bonk, Paper-hanger, Market Place, Pickering.”
The material on this page is taken from a brochure published in circa 1960 by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company. The brochure showcased the company’s latest machines and innovations, including the Linofilm System.
WITH the perfection of the Linofilm System, Mergenthaler Linotype Company contributes another revolutionary development to the graphic arts.
I recently paid a visit to the Bradford Industrial Museum in Yorkshire, here in the UK.
If anyone is planning a trip there, I recommend that you go on a Wednesday when museum volunteers Jimmy Young, Donald Stott and Michael Booth are on hand to demonstrate the equipment and answer any questions you may have.