Type Lust: It's A Good Thing!

How many fonts of type are enough? 200? 500? 1000? And how many cuts, borders, and ornaments does a person need? For letterpress printers there’s always another typeface, border, or cut just around the corner. It’s truly an addiction, and pretty much incurable. But there’s a lot of fun and camaraderie along the way.

My husband Bob and I enjoyed that camaraderie this past weekend at the Great Northern Printers’ Fair in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. This three day affair offers both new and experienced printers the opportunity to actually use any of the machines housed at Printers’ Hall. If you’re new you can ask for coaching on a machine, and you’ll get a printer who’s happy to walk you through the process.

On Friday afternoon Bob and I tried out the Reliance hand press, a newly renovated addition to the Printers’ Hall collection. With our older, worn wood type, inexperience with a hand press, and some problems with the alignment of the platen and bed of the press, we had difficulty getting a good impression. Probably with a little more time we could have gotten it right. But we had a great time anyway, and learned something about printing on hand presses in the process. No point in hanging back, you’ve got to jump in and get your hands dirty!


Below are some of the projects that were going on in Printers’ Hall at the Great Northern. All kinds of presses were in action, including the giant Babcock newspaper press. Printers young and old tried their hand at using the various machines.





The Saturday swap meet was certainly a highlight of the weekend. Eager buyers checked out the rectangle of tables early, looking for treasure. It was a typographical feeding frenzy, true type lust gone wild. What was out there? Would that long sought after typeface, border, or cut be on somebody’s sale table?



After the first rush the group settled in, making the circuit over and over, buying, selling, talking. As exotic wood type fonts and old specimen books sold, interest in rusty galleys and guess-what-it-is press parts picked up. There was plenty of time to chat, exchange ideas and printing samples, and get to know the other people there.



Personally, we had a great time! We met a lot of talented young printers just starting out, and caught up with some of our long-time printing friends at the same time. United in our love for the same fascinating, inky process, time truly flew by. Will we be back next year? You’d better believe it!

Great Northern

One of the printers’ gatherings I’ve enjoyed in recent years is coming up soon: the Great Northern. This informal weekend event, started by the late Bill McGarry and now run in his honor, began as a swap/sell meet in the Minneapolis area. Now it’s grown and found a home at Midwest Old Threshers Museum in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

Midwest Old Threshers is a working museum, complete with operational steam engines, old farm machinery (including threshing machines), dolls, an antique carousel, and a steam locomotive you can ride. It’s all wonderful to see. But to me the main attraction is Printer’s Hall. Thanks to the efforts of many hobby printers, Printer’s Hall is a working letterpress print shop full of antique machinery that’s fully operational.

The Great Northern Printer’s Fair is a golden opportunity to work with letterpress equipment firsthand. And there’s plenty of it: Vandercook presses, Linotype machines, a Heidelberg Windmill, an iron hand press, a steam-powered Babcock newsletter press, and an old folding machine that will amaze you as it reduces a full sheet of newsprint to manageable size. This year a Hickok ruling machine will be in action, too. All of these machines will be up and running for the Great Northern. But they’re not behind velvet ropes. You can actually work with them. In fact you’re encouraged to get inky and try them out. And if you’re new to letterpress, there are lots of experienced printers to help you out.

The icing on the cake is the Sale/Swap Meet on Saturday, followed by the Auction. Buyers wander around and study tables piled high with type, cuts, and every type of printing equipment you can imagine. There’s lots of opportunity to chat, share stories, and learn more about letterpress. My husband and I number ourselves among the hopelessly addicted, fascinated with what’s for sale and who’s there to talk with. And you never know when you’re going to score a terrific bargain at the auction on some item you’ve been eying!

Thursday starts with workshops, demonstrations, and instruction on the various pieces of equipment. Start a project and continue it on Friday, with expert help if you need it. Load up on letterpress type and gadgetry on Saturday at the Swap Meet and Auction. And get a chance to chat with some of the folks who love letterpress. In my experience, they’re some of the kindest, most helpful people you could imagine. What an opportunity for fun and camaraderie!

This year’s Great Northern runs September 16-18. If you’d like more information, contact Chuck Wendel at pchazman@hotmail.com or Rick von Holdt at vonholdt@netins.net . Or check the July 7th posting on Briar Press: http://www.briarpress.org.

Below are some pictures my husband and I have taken at the Great Northern over the years. We’ve certainly enjoyed being there!


Printing on the Chandler and Price platen press.


Demonstration of casting metal type by Skyline Type Foundry.


Preparing a form for the Babcock newspaper press.


Running the Babcock press is a two-person operation.


Take a ride on a steam locomotive at Midwest Old Threshers Museum.


Row upon row of old threshing machines greet you at the museum.


The Swap Meet in full swing. Old type, new type, cuts, gadgets, and equipment galore -- you can get it all here.