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.
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:
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.
The photographs on this page were taken from the collection held by the United States Library of Congress.
The New York Herald was first published by James Gordon Bennett Sr. during the American Civil War. It supported the Democratic Party. The paper financed Henry Morton Stanley’s expeditions into Africa to find David Livingstone.
The photographs on this page were taken from the collection held by the United States Library of Congress.
Various other bits of equipment can be seen on the picture – presumably there’s a press in there somewhere – some type-cases to the left of the picture.
The material on this page is taken from a brochure published in circa 1960 by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company.
THE Mohr Lino-Saw automatically cuts slugs to required measure before they are delivered to the galley.
The photographs on this page were taken from the collection held by the United States Library of Congress.