Yesterday’s Technology . . . Today!
Many thanks to Dan Williams for sending in this article taken from a 1971 edition of the American publication “Graphical Arts Monthly.” It explores how viable a small letterpress print shop was in the early 1970s.
IS LETTERPRESS dead for the small printer? Edgecombe Printer in Kalamazoo, Mich, is a good example of a shop that is making a profit with letterpress in competition with offset.
Many thanks to Derek Cross for sending in this photograph and story.
The Argus Press was situated off Fleet Street in Tudor Street. It printed a number of magazines and newspapers, including the Observer.
Another batch of pictures, sent in by Ken Flemington. Says Ken: “They were taken at Northcliffe House, home of the Daily Mail, where we were printing the Sunday People. They were taken in June 1986 and I am in one of the photos. I will also include one of me using a Polymer platemaking machine which replaced hot metal at Holborn for the short period before closure in 1988.
“I hope the readers enjoy these photos as much as I enjoy the other photos of printers and printing on your excellent site. Sadly this is all I have.”
Many thanks to Ken Flemington for getting in touch with the site and sending these photographs in. Some pictures include Ken’s son!
Ken says: “The Woods were American machines which were only used as a last resort as they were extremely unreliable and difficult to fix when little things went wrong.”
The photographs on these pages are taken from the Monroe County Library Collection.
The photographs on these pages are reproduced courtesy of the United States Library of Congress.
The photographs on these pages are reproduced courtesy of the United States Library of Congress, and were taken in US Government Printing Offices in Washington, DC.
Mike Phillips sent me an electronic copy of “The Printer” the front page was taken up with this very unusual Intertype machine, I’ve got to say I’ve never seen anything quite like it!
The accompanying article, which you may just be able to read in the inset box says:
Many thanks to George Finn, Metal Type stalwart and Forum moderator for sending this picture of himself in.
George says: “I was going through some old family photos and ran across this one of me working on an Elektron Linotype.
These pictures were categorised as Printing Shops in Washington, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, c1920-1950, although taking a clue from the clothing worn, I would guess that they could be pinned down to c1930.
What puzzled me about the photographs is that a great deal of attention seems to be being paid to a fairly run-of-the-mill-looking printing press.