Ex Linotype operator Thomas A Berkheiser tells of his time working on the Shamokin News-Dispatch in the 1960s and 70s.
MY NAME is Thomas A. Berkheiser, from Paxinos, Pennsylvania.
Category: USA/Canada
The Green Card
Dean Nayes gives us an insight into what life was like for a travelling compositor in the USA in the 1960s.
BACK in 1968, after 13 years of “homesteading”, I decided I was going on the road again.
E for Exasperation
Dean Nayes sent in this amusing story about a very ingenious Linotype operator.
DURING my travels across the United States I came across a very ingenious Linotype operator.
Advance Memories
Albert W Perez sent in this story about some of the characters who worked at the Daily Advance in Dover, New Jersey.
In MARCH, 1973, I started my apprenticeship with The Daily Advance in Dover, New Jersey. My father, 3 uncles and 2 aunts had worked in the trade, so for me, it was a natural.
Canadian “Typeset”
Roy Daniels tells us about his printing career in Canada from the age of 15.
EMIGRATING to Canada in May of 1949 on the Cunard Ship Acquitania at the age of 12 was a harrowing experience.
American South West Preservation
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.
Patriot Ledger, Quincy
Thanks to Richard Goodwin for sending in these photographs taken at the Quincy Patriot Ledger between 1969 and 1975.
Linotype Wapiti (Elk)
Many thanks to Mike Wilson, a Metal Type regular, and a former Linotype operator from Bridlington, UK for sending in these photographs he took on a recent trip to Canada.
A local artist Carl Sean McMahon made a sculpture from an old Linotype machine for display outside the City Hall in Castlegar, British Columbia, Canada.
Edgecombe Printer, 1971
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.
Key West Citizen, c1960
The photographs on these pages are taken from the Monroe County Library Collection.