Letterpress.
Letterpress greeting cards, pre-made stationery, and simple artwork. All printed by hand on antique presses in Richmond, Virginia.
What is letterpress?
noun
let·ter·press | \ ˈle-tər-ˌpres \
“The process of printing from an inked raised surface especially when the paper is impressed directly upon the surface.”
Say what?
When a printer letterpresses something, an antique machine is used to push an image or words into paper. Everything set to print is backwards, like a stamp, which means a printer has to seriously mind their Ps and Qs. Type is set with individual letters made out of wood or metal. Today, any design can be created on a computer and made into a reusable cut for letterpress printing. Whatever is set out to print, letterpress truly leaves an impression.
See some work.
Meet the presses.
What are letterpress machines? They are devices that apply pressure that transfer ink from a surface (raised metal type) to a medium (paper). They revolutionized mass communication, changed the course of history and today call back to simpler times.
Put simply, they are magic.
Preston the Platen
Preston is a 7×11 Old Style Chandler & Price letterpress machine. He was built in 1905. This press style has always been popular among printers even though he weighs around 900 lbs! Preston was purchased from lovely couple only after an interview process ensuring he was going to the right home. His top inking disc is rotational in both directions a feature rarely seen.
Siggi the Sigwalt
This little nugget was the last to join the family. His official name is a Sigwalt #11. Tiny, compact and easy for demos, this Chicago Printing press has two rollers to help distribute the ink over the tiny chase. His original price tag 100 years ago was $6.00! Before coming to OTBP, he was completely disassembled, stripped down & re-finished which is why he looks so fresh and new.
Sean the Showcard
This Showcard sign press came all the way from a F. W. Woolworth in Kansas. Showcard machines were originally used to print sale posters and advertisements in department stores. At one time they could be purchased with a full set of type that fit on specially made bars that stretched across the machine bed. Type would have been stored in a cabinet underneath the press itself.
Shop.
Check out some cards & prints hot off the press!