Intertype Factory, 1966

Many thanks to Stan Coutant for allowing these photographs to be used on Metal Type. Stan was an Intertype Operator from 1959 to 1978 – a period he describes as “one of the most enjoyable and rewarding jobs I have ever had.”

In Stan’s own words: “In 1966 I had occasion to travel to New York, my first and only trip to the East Coast. Since there was adequate time before I departed, I wrote to the folks at Intertype Corporation and asked about taking a tour of the factory.

That was fine with them. There is a dearth of Intertype factory photos on the Web. So I am especially pleased that I captured the images I am now sharing with you.

Stan’s photos were taken using only the “available light.”

Intertype Factory
A chaotic-looking corner of the factory.
Working on a distributor bar
Working on a distributor bar.
Working on a magazine
Working on a magazine
Intertype factory
Early stages of manufacture – could they be serial numbers chalked on the frames?
Intertype factory
Nearly finished – is that an illuminated pot light to the right?
Intertype Monarch
Intertype Monarch.
Intertype factory
Stan recalls: “I remember my host explaining that the long strips of brass were being converted on that punch press into matrix blanks, plain rectangles slightly larger than a finished mat. I believe that is another strip of brass visible in the foreground sagging to the left, waiting to be fed into the press.”
Operating a Benton pantograph matrix engraving machine
Operating a Benton pantograph matrix engraving machine.
More matrix engraving machine workers
More matrix engraving machine workers.
Intertype factory
An engineering department?
Intertype factory
Making matrices?
Intertype factory
What’s this old Linotype machine doing in there?

Intertype fan? Don’t miss the Intertype Chat section of the Metal Type Forum.

4 thoughts on “Intertype Factory, 1966”

  1. Imagine life if the technical developments of the last 30 years and the move to digital everywhere had not happened and we were still using hot metal.

    Reply

  2. Thanks a lot for those pictures, it’s hard to find photos of letterpress manufacturer factories.
    Really great to see it.

    Reply

Have your say . . .

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.