Category: Location

Yorkshire Evening Press, Xmas Eve

Christmas visit
This picture, taken on Christmas Eve 1978, shows (from left to right): The Archbishop of York, Stuart Yarworth Blanch; York & County Press Production Manager Raymond Heppell and David Hughes, Apprentice Compositor.

There are six pages of Yorkshire Evening Press photos on Metal Type. Check the “Related Pages” menu to see the rest.

During my time at the Yorkshire Evening Press it was a tradition that the Archbishop of York visited the works every Christmas Eve to press a green button to start the presses rolling. Read the Full Article . . .

Wairoa Star, 1968

Cossar Press
The Wairoa Star’s (New Zealand) Cossar B16 Flatbed reel fed Printing Press could print up to sixteen tabloid pages in one print run and with the rewind section another eight pages could be added. The press was retired in 1976 when the Wairoa Star changed to offset.

Many thanks to Graeme How for sending in these photos.

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

Harrison and Sons, 1950

Composing room, Harrison and Sons
Composing room, Harrison and Sons, Printing House Lane, Hayes, Middlesex. 1950.
From left: Neville Jackman, Joe Hillier, Bert Archer, Frank Farrant, Bert Edwards, Bill Cummins, Harold Harrison, Bill Morrisey, Charley Varnel, Bill Harries, Ernie Bray (aged 17), Cyril Cross, Vic Spall.
The job on the stones in the foreground is probably voters’ list.
Bill Cummins and Charley Varnel are working on record labels which we printed for EMI and Decca.
The tops of the two Linotypes can be seen at the back on the left.

Many thanks to Ernest Bray from London for sending in this photo and caption.

International Printing Museum

Intertype C4
At the International Printing Museum, we have been restoring a circa 1956 C-4 Intertype. As noted, this pix was taken the first day I was able to cast on the machine. The legend is a proof of the casting. The Linotype to my left is a model 32 which is also operational. I am thoroughly enjoying learning to operate these machines. I am doing pretty well with the keyboarding. I am also very good at producing jams but haven’t mastered the un-jamming techniques as yet.

A Model 31 Linotype at the International Printing Museum, plus some other pics, kindly donated by Dr Leland Whitson.

Linotype Factory, Brooklyn

Linotype factory
A picture of the Linotype Factory in Brooklyn, New York, USA. I would guess (looking at the vehicles) it dates from some time between the turn of the 20th Century and World War One. The small print at the bottom proclaims it to be “The Largest Composing Machine Factory in the World.” I think it may have been produced as a postcard.

A superb colour illustration of the Linotype Factory in Brooklyn, New York, USA from about 1900-1920. Kindly sent in by Roy Daniels.

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

Burlington Press & Electrical Press

Mike Wilson
I’m on the Linotype in Burlington Press, Bridlington, a one-man operation (my Dad and my mother) until his death in 1978. I’m probably on holiday from Aylesbury, where I was department overseer on the Bucks Herald. I worked a brand new Intertype there, a model that came out before the days of the Elektrons etc. A ten-line-a-minute job with a blower etc. But I could still keep a line hanging. But despite the blower the mould got so hot that it would splash often, and the union man told me to slow down or everyone would have to work at my speed. They promised me an output bonus but it never materialised.

Mike Wilson also sent in these pictures of himself and his father.

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

Printing House Museum

Linotype keyboard
The linotype keyboard. Spacebar to the left, then lower case, numbers, etc. are in the blue section and caps on the right. There is an expanding spaceband on the tray above. The blue section also contained the now little-used ligatures (fi, fl, ff, ffi, ffl).

The photographs on the following pages were all taken at The Printing House Museum, Cockermouth, Cumbria, UK. The museum unfortunately closed down in 2010.

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