Bad Handwriting!

Many thanks to Mike Wilson, from Yorkshire in the UK, for sending in this story.

Says Mike:

One of the hazards of typesetting is the possibility error. In the ‘old’ days, the days of hot metal, all typeset material was checked by the printer’s reader.Read the rest

Chapel Rules

Many thanks to Mike Wilson, from Yorkshire in the UK, for sending in this story.

Says Mike:

The N.G.A. Chapel Rules book contained the ‘rules’ by which men who worked in print shops had to abide.

East Yorkshire Printers Ltd. at Driffield, to whom I returned after three years serving the country in the R.A.F.,Read the rest

In Memoriam

Many Thanks to Mike Wilson, from Yorkshire in the UK, for sending in this story.

Says Mike: “One day, late in my career, I was production manager at Driffield Times. I now realise that I was not a very able manager, much preferring to be a keyboard operator.Read the rest

Booing Advised

Many thanks to Mike Wilson, from Yorkshire in the UK, for sending in this story.

Says Mike: “After I had officially retired, I occasionally typeset material for local printers as I had a Macintosh computer at home.

One of my clients was Yorkshire Ridings magazine, at that time produced in Driffield by a former Driffield Times editor, Winston Halstead.… Read the rest

Austrian Type Height

Many thanks to George Hamilton from Vienna, Austria for sending in this story.

I WAS in Bad Ischl (Austria) a week ago, sought out an antiquarian bookstore for anything on printing and was told by the prop that there was nothing, but on the way out I looked down and under a stack of stuff there was a case of what appeared to be wood type.Read the rest

Printers’ Tales

Available in Ebook Formats and Paperback

Printers Tales is a compilation of over 30 stories, from various authors, about the printing industry in the pre-digital age.

Before computers became common-place in the late 1970s, to produce a printed page required the skill and expertise of a multitude of time-served craftsmen.… Read the rest

Preservation in NZ

Terry Foster, a long time contributor to Metal Type, describes the uphill struggle he faces trying to get public backing for preserving letterpress machinery in New Zealand.

While the recent increase in public interest in letterpress printing is welcome, it would seem to be centered around the “craft and artisan” areas, not so much larger, more industrial equipment.… Read the rest

Book Impositions

Dave Gladwell, who spent his printing days in large book publishing houses, sheds some light on large impsosition schemes, and more.

Book imposition chart

Said Dave: “Given to me when Composing apprentice at Billings of Guildford when I moved on to the “Stones” for tuition, now coming on to 60 years ago!… Read the rest