{"id":693,"date":"2017-06-13T17:37:22","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T16:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metaltype.co.uk\/wpress\/?page_id=693"},"modified":"2023-01-19T11:34:52","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T10:34:52","slug":"dying-days","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/metaltype.co.uk\/wpress\/dying-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Dying days"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alan Young tells us of his days as possibly one of the last Linotype operators.<\/p>\n

STARTED my career at Wolf Composition in Reading, Massachusetts, USA in 1964.<\/strong><\/p>\n

First I pulled proofs in this book shop. Then I graduated to the linotype.<\/p>\n

Finished up my apprenticeship (ITU) in 1971, just in time to get laid off due to the company moving the bulk of its production to England.<\/p>\n

From there I went to the ITU’s Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. Never used the training I got there as I learned there was plenty of work in Denver.<\/p>\n

So went back to Massachusetts to get a traveler and my stuff and out to Denver. Slipped up at The Denver Post summer of 1972. Made the mistake of leaving a few months later and ended up at the Cape Cod Standard Times in Hyannis.<\/p>\n

When spring came decided to ry my luck out in Portland, Oregon. Not much there so I went back to Denver and the Post.<\/p>\n

Things were fine until new technology reared its head.<\/p>\n

After a few stints with what linotype typesetting was left (mostly fly-by-night), landed a full time steady job at the Leadville (Colorado) Herald Democrat running a Model 5.<\/p>\n

This went fine until the publisher decided to retire and sold to a regional chain. New technology again with no place for me.<\/p>\n

This was the summer of 1985. And this is when I knew it was over. I still at times long for the days I ran a linotype.<\/p>\n

This is basically my story as one of the last linotype operators.<\/p>\n

Did you enjoy this story? <\/strong>If so, you may be interested to know that it appears in “Printers’ Tales”<\/strong><\/a> available as a paperback or ebook.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alan Young tells us of his days as possibly one of the last Linotype operators. STARTED my career at Wolf Composition in Reading, Massachusetts, USA in 1964. First I pulled proofs in this book shop. Then I graduated to the linotype. Finished up my apprenticeship (ITU) in 1971, just in time to get laid off … Continue reading “Dying days”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-693","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-storiesanecdotes","category-usacanada"],"yoast_head":"\nDying days - Metal Type<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alan Young tells the story of being possibly one of the last linotype operators, starting at Wolf Composition, Reading Masachusetts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metaltype.co.uk\/wpress\/dying-days\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dying days - Metal Type\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Alan Young tells the story of being possibly one of the last linotype operators, starting at Wolf Composition, Reading Masachusetts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metaltype.co.uk\/wpress\/dying-days\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metal Type\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-01-19T10:34:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MTPrinting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/dying-days\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/dying-days\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dying days - Metal Type\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-13T16:37:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-01-19T10:34:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Alan Young tells the story of being possibly one of the last linotype operators, starting at Wolf Composition, Reading Masachusetts\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/dying-days\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/dying-days\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/dying-days\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dying days\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metaltype.co.uk\\\/wpress\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metal Type\",\"description\":\"Yesterday\u2019s Technology . . . 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