We’ve raised $52,000 of the $83,000 needed to match our wonderful State Historical Fund grant. (And with that grant and our great supporters we’re almost 60% towards our capital campaign goal!) Special gifts appreciated, but very dollar helps. Thank you!
Viewing entries tagged
letterpress depot
While board members Dave Laskowski II, Kirk Benson and Elanor Harris were designing and carving a large MDF board for the steamroller event…
… Tom Parson and Marc Silberman were printing with students at Bishop and Cherrelyn Elementary Schools in Englewood, thanks to Kirk who is a teacher at both schools. They also taught printing to some adults at Marc’s studio the same day.
Tom also was on a quest to see what was salvageable from two of Dana Smith’s presses burned during the Marshall fire—sadly not much—and from artist/photographer/designer Glenn Cuerden’s incredible archive of work, damaged by a broken water pipe.
The first of MANY rescue carloads for Glenn’s collection. More on that work in a later blog.
Because now it’s time to see the Steamroller event at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design! Elanor, Depot president Ian Van Mater and Erin Rademacher put ink and more ink on the board, then laid it on the ground, covered it with plywood and let the steamroller roll!
Here are a few of the other prints steamrolled that day!
So much has been going on since our Open House tour as part of Mo’Print in March. Thank you to all who came.
If you missed, or want to do/see more (we always have more to do, more to show) come to our meetup Saturday April 23 - englewooddepot@gmail.com or 720-480-5358 for details.
Open Studio Tour Saturday 10-4 as part of Mo’Print, the Month of print. Come see our presses, with many in action!
Here are just some of the presses you will see - more will be shared other days this week!
Gordon Franklin press - note the brass side arms!
Gordon Franklin platen, new style 10x15 ~1871
The Gordon Franklin, called “the single most famous and influential jobbing press of the nineteenth century” was invented by George Phineas Gordon, who is celebrated as having developed the basic design of the most popular printing press ever. He named this model the Franklin because Gordon, a spiritualist, said that Ben Franklin had described it to him in a dream. Our model is a Gordon’s brass side-arm “new style”, that started to be manufactured in 1871 when the patent on the older version was expiring.
Jones Gordon Press ~1890
Manufactured by John M. Jones. Jones, who first built presses for George Phineas Gordon, started building them on his own when Gordon’s patents expired.
C&P 10x15 at the start of a print run
by Chandler & Price -All these built on the model designed by George Phineas Gordon
7x11, old style 1898-910x15 old style 1902
8x12 new style ~1930
Bryan Dahlberg, Doug Sorenson and Tom Parson huddle around the Colt’s Armory Press
Colts Armory platen (on loan from Doug Sorenson) ~1887
The name given after 1887 to Merrit Gally’s Universal press, which he’d introduced in 1869. The former minister held more than 500 patents. John Thomson, who hated Gally from the first time he heard him preach as a child, ended up taking over manufacture of the press in a high noon standoff worthy of the Colt’s name. For more details of this history see https://bit.ly/3D4BXIy
Old Reliable platen press 8x12 1888
The Old Reliable was manufactured for just one year by H.H. Thorpe (Cleveland Type Foundry). James Thorpe held many other platen press patents, which he later sold to Chandler and Price. Used by hobby printer Jim Grisenti, it was donated to the Depot by Jim Fitzgerald in memory of printer Wimpy Miller.
Schniedewend & Lee Old Style platen Manufactured between 1884-93
This press also was built on the foundations laid by George Phineas Gordon. The Schniedewend company also built the Reliance A iron hand press on our east wall.
Damon-Peets platen, new style 9x12 (on loan from Doug Sorenson) ~1893
Calling itself the “latest improved Gordon,”whose “style supersedes all other presses” and which can print 2,000 sheets an hour, it was made by Damon & Peets of New York.
Next up: the Depot’s smaller presses…stay tuned! Come see them all March 26, Open Studio 10-4
One of the Letterpress Depot’s most recent acquisitions – a Jones Gordon press, generously donated (along with other goodies) by Stacey Steers, David Brunel and Nena Restrepo-Gil of Boulder. THANK YOU!
After cleaning and oiling the press, Tom Parson got it rolling
A label on it says it was from “Chicago Newspaper Union. ” The donors got it a few decades ago from the weekly Dongola, Illinois, Tri-County Record, Its rollers were still wrapped in a six page issue dated June 15, 2000, which has an ad for “Does-the-Job Printing.” A functional and historic addition to our printing museum collection!
The press was manufactured between 1890-1903 in Palmyra, New York by John M. Jones. Jones made presses for George Phineas Gordon, who is celebrated as having developed the basic design of the most common printing press ever, the Gordon Letterpress. As Gordon’s patents expired, others such as Jones produced their own versions of his innovative machines.
The press has a treadle and several creative and practical additions to the original Gordon platen press. It has an easier new way to remove the chase, roller lifters so when you’re inking the press the ink doesn’t get on the form, and hand dial that adjusts the pressure—even while in the midst of printing - so you don’t have to open the packing to make small adjustments to improve the impression. And much more. The press is missing the sophisticated upper disk ink roller system noted in the ad, but has a detached small New Century inker.
Interestingly, Jones also invented one of the first typewriters or, as he called it, “Domestic Printing Machines”. His was only the third to reach manufacture—but the factory burned down after 130 had been fully or partially assembled.
A new roof to stop the leaks, and heaps and heaps of gravel to shore up the often-muddy alley/driveway