Printers and Printing

Explanation When we speak of "scrap cards" or "scrap picture covering name," we mean that after the cards are printed, the scrap is placed over the name and fastened to the card at one end. In presenting a card to a friend, your name is hidden till they lift the scrap in the manner shown in this illustration, which exposes the name to view and shows the back . of the scrap; on taking the finger off, it again falls into place and hides the name. This style of visiting card is all the rage this season [1886], and is very unique as well as beautiful. --Excerpt from an 1886 sample sheet with illustrations of calling cards for sale by the Connecticut Steam Card Works, Hartford, Conn.

"The Lititz Express." Printed on the back of this postcard: "Souvenir, July 4, 1907. Power demonstration on Express Printing Company's float." Evidently, the Lititz Express , a newspaper published until the 1930s in Lititz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, printed this punning illustration with a press on board its Fourth of July parade float in 1907. I've heard of souvenir printings "on the ice" for frost fairs when the River Thames in London froze over in past centuries, and I have some menus and other items that were printed aboard ships during cruises, but I can't recall seeing anything else printed during a parade. Has anyone else encountered any other examples of printing on ice, parade float, ship, train, plane, automobile, or in any other unique circumstances?

An insulting " vinegar valentine " aimed at printers. Printer Lead-colored claws, tobacco-stained jaws, Wretched Typo, you cram up your stick, Drunk today to your sorrow, half sober tomorrow, And then swear you're a regular "brick." Your foreman condemns how you count up your "ems," How you "sub" it at half-price he likes, But the editor only, at his desk groaning lonely, Damns you and your interminable "strikes." For another example of a vinegar valentine, see You Teach Each Little Elf More Than You Know Yourself .

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of at work . A real photo postcard showing three fellows standing around the type cases in the composing room of a print shop. The upper cases typically contained capital letters, and the lower cases contained small letters, leading to the terminology we still use today to refer to letter case .

"I Print to Please. Pluck Art Printery, D. B. Landis, 257 N. Queen St." Detail from Pluck Art Printery Receipt, Lancaster, Pa., 1890s (see thumbnail image below). Pluck Art Printery, also known at different times throughout its existence as Pluck Print, Pluck Electric Print, and Landis Art Press, was a letterpress print shop run by David Bachman Landis (1862-1940) in Lancaster, Pa. On this 1890s receipt, Landis highlighted his slogan, "I Print to Please," with an illustration of a composing stick and mallet, two essential tools for setting type by hand.

"I Print to Please. Pluck Art Printery, D. B. Landis, 257 N. Queen St., Lancaster, Pa, ________ 189__. Received of ________. ________Dollars. $____. ________." For a close-up of the left-hand portion of this receipt, see I Print to Please, D. B. Landis, Pluck Art Printery, Lancaster, Pa., 1890s (thumbnail image below).

"Job-Printing, Surveying, Conveyancing, &c., attended to by Jesse I. Dauman, notary public, Waynesburg, Chester Co., Pa." A nineteenth-century sign that dates to the 1870s or 1880s and lists all the services that Jesse I. Dauman could provide. Dauman also published a local newspaper, as mentioned in the History of Chester County, Pennsylvania (1881) (via Google Books): "The Honeybrook Graphic , a weekly paper, was established at Honeybrook (formerly Waynesburg), Feb 15, 1879, by J. Henry Long, and conducted by him until August 8th of the same year, when he disposed of it to Jesse I. Dauman, who has since then been editor and proprietor. Mr Dauman has had a job printing-office at Honeybrook since April, 1869."

"C. Byron Morse, fine and fancy cakes, ice cream, etc. Dining parlors for ladies and gentlemen, 912 Arch Street, Philad'a. Copyright 1878 by L. Prang & Co."

"Reward of merit presented to a good scholar from your teacher, S. Ayres. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1867 by L. Prang & Co. in the Clerk's office of Mass."

"Happy New Year. J. H. Bufford's Sons, Boston, New York & Chicago."

"Holiday Greetings of E. R. Barry, the Hanover St. Confectioner. Bufford." Although this advertising trade card likely dates to the 1880s or 1890s, E. R. Barry continued in business into the twentieth century, as evidenced by the text of an advertisement in The Manchester [New Hampshire] Directory, 1908 (Boston: Sampson and Murdock, 1907): "E. R. Barry Co., confectioners, caterers, and bakers, ice cream, etc. Dinner served from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at 35 cents. Odd Fellows' Block, 81 and 89 Hanover Street, Manchester, N.H." See below for some other Victorian trade cards that feature Santa Claus:

"Hoyer & Milnor, Great 99¢ Store, 29 Third St., Harrisburg, Pa." A Victorian-era advertising trade card with an illustration of an early tricycle.