Alan Runfeldt's Excelsior Press Blog

July 26, 2008 - I am beginning a blog. I did so once before using some fancy online blogging software, but I forgot my password and forgot where it was, so it faded away. But I also have my own web site, web server and Mozilla Composer. I create and edit web pages all the time, so why not keep life simple - just have a page on my desktop that I can find easily and update whenever I have something to tell our visitors.

I will probably use this as a way to answer some of the many questions that come in via email or through the contact form.

So. The Excelsior Press web log aka "Blog" is born. (note: most links open in a new window automatically.)

Read on, McDuff! - and check our latest Letterpress Rescue listings

Sat, 9/13/ 2008: Just Found Dave Seat's photos of us on his web site... These are from just last month:
Alan & Barry - Alan & (the new) Ludlow -M See our photos from his last visit in 2002
See Dave's extensive collection of photos of more Printers Around the Country and the World

Fri, 9/12/2008: - Rescue Alert - Complete Letterpress Shop near Jacksonville, Florida needs a new home

Wed, 9/10/2008:
IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR IOWA!!!
I just heard about a great event - The 15th Annual Midwest & Great Northern Printers Fair - September 19 and 20, 2008 in a permanent display at the annual "Old Threshers Reunion" in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. This is like a permanent museum print shop with lots of type an presses and even their own letterpress newspaper!

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Here's part of an email I received from Rick Van holdt:
...It looks like this is going to be a spectacular event this year, with around 30 sales tables spoken for so far!

We will have an all-day Open House on Friday staring at 8:00 a.m. and quiting at 5:30 for supper, but we will be back after supper and re- open from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. No set agenda, just lots of demonstrations and training as people request it.

Saturday we will have a swap meet in the morning, staring at 8:00 a.m. We'll quite that and have lunch and then set-up for a 2:00 p.m. auction.
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Wow. After seeing the photos of the layout in the big hall - I wish I could be there!

Friday August 1, 2008
Today's project was printing posters for the local Town Picnic in Frenchtown. Not a great job, but sorta fun. I didn't take any photos of the posters, but I do have some online from last year. - http://frenchtown.com/police/PrintedPoster.html I think I'll print the other side in red later tonight or tomorrow. That will let the poster be viewed from either side of the windows they will likely be posted in - like down at Frenchtown's IGA market, over at Don Shaible's Barber Shop, and other places in Frenchtown

Wednesday, July 30, 2008
We've posted a new page showing photos of a press found in Greece. Petros is trying to identify the manufacturer. I couldn't tell him - can you? Please take a look at Press in Greece and telll us if you can NAME THAT PRESS!
Update 8/7 - Well, it looks like we have a very possible answer. Check out the page for that and more as Petros writes us the story of this press being used by the Resistance during WWII !!

Saturday, July 26, 2008
Today sets a milestone in the history of The Excelsior Press and myself as a compositor. Dave "Hotmetal" Seat stopped by today and serviced and wired up our new Model M Ludlow slug caster and Barry Mueller's old reliable Intertype line caster. We also serviced the old Model L Ludlow and will be casting with it again as soon as the motor goes back on.

Having all three casters working means we need to produce a type specimen book, showing the fonts we can cast. We have over 50 fonts in Ludlow Mats and likely as many in Linotype mats, so making up the specimens may take some time. But, once that is done, we intend to offer linotyping and ludow hot metal casting services. We are casting from both machines now and it is very, very exciting. And now that I have a Ludlow to play with again, my wife has a slug of 36 point Clarendon Bold that says "CATHY" on her dashboard.

Next, I'll be setting and casting font samples for the other fonts in the four Ludlow cabinets and a few dozen Intertype magazines, at least, plus some more mats sitting in galleys. Watch here for another announcement and link to specimens and ordering information.

One reason this getting the Intertype working is so important to me is that when I was seventeen, I worked at Interstate Printing in Plainfield, NJ. It was a 100% letterpress shop, printing wildlife magazines with four-color illustrations on some large Miller 35" sheet fed cylinder presses. All of the type was either hand set, Ludow or Linotype. But all of the metal compostion was handled by the ITU union guys.

The thing is, I wasn't in the ITU, so these union guys wouldn't even let me in to look at the Linotypes, which fascinated me no end. It was very frustrating not to be allowed to learn something that intrigued me so much. So now, 41 years later, I have finally realized that dream on my own (with Barry and Dave's help, of course) and have sat down and typed on the obscure Linotype keyboard layout and have cast lines of type. A dream long-delayed, but now come true. I'll add some photos and do up a dedicated page of Saturday's activities when I catch my breath.