Yesterday’s Technology . . . Today!
Many thanks to Flickr user Gridula for allowing these photographs that he took at the John Jarrold Printing Museum, in Norwich, Norfolk, UK to be used on Metal Type.
Says Gridula: “An absolutely stunning example of a smaller Soldan Lightning Proof Press. I didn’t even know this was in the museum so when I walked round the corner and saw this I nearly fell over.
I recently paid a visit to the Beck Isle Museum of Rural Life, where they have recreated what they thought a small rural printing office would have looked like in the late 19th Century.
I found the imprint on this one quite interesting. It says: “Printed at the office of R Bonk, Paper-hanger, Market Place, Pickering.”
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.
The material on this page is taken from a brochure published in circa 1960 by the Mergenthaler Linotype Company. The brochure showcased the company’s latest machines and innovations, including the Linofilm System.
WITH the perfection of the Linofilm System, Mergenthaler Linotype Company contributes another revolutionary development to the graphic arts.
I recently paid a visit to the Bradford Industrial Museum in Yorkshire, here in the UK.
If anyone is planning a trip there, I recommend that you go on a Wednesday when museum volunteers Jimmy Young, Donald Stott and Michael Booth are on hand to demonstrate the equipment and answer any questions you may have.
John Bowles sent in these pictures, and photographs, of his father Dave Bowles – Former Sunday Telegraph compositor and Father of the Chapel.
When Dave Bowles left the Sunday Telegraph on March 23, 1986 he was presented with a framed plate of a Sunday Telegraph front page with the lead story taken out and replaced with a tribute to Dave headlined: “The Godfather Contracts Out.”
Many thanks to John Bowles for taking a trip up to his attic to get these photos for inclusion on Metal Type.
Says John: “It wasn’t the Front Page, the important pages were being done paper paste up by then.
About three years ago Steve Ballard posted in the Metal Type forum asking if anyone remembered his father Stan Ballard, a letterpress comp who unfortunately died in 1988.
John Bowles recently got in touch, and even took a trip up to his attic to find this photograph of Stan.
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.”