We have been busy bees over here at Constellation & Co. (Hence the blog silence. “Update blog” is on my Teux Deux every day, but it tends to get neglected for other tasks.) But here I am, and here are some highlights.
Visit our new stores!
Our card & gift items are available for purchase in several new stores! It’s been a great month since we launched our wholesale catalog, and we’ve enjoyed seeing orders coming in from lovely shops in fun cities.
McNally Jackson Books, NYC
The following is an excerpt from the 1953 edition of Platen Press Operation by George J. Mills.
(More information on the book can be found here.)
Quotes from the book are italic and the other comments are my interjections/self-reminders.
The platen press is as dangerous or as safe as the operator makes it. Student operators should follow common sense safety practices until each becomes a habit. Continue reading ☞
I have a confession.
I’m a messy printer. It’s a relief to say that out loud.
Getting my hands dirty is part of the appeal of letterpress for me.
Last Friday, a moving company picked up Josephine (our C&P) at 619 and brought her to the new studio. We’ve now moved her twice, and it unfortunately (in my experience) it doesn’t get easier. Continue reading ☞
Annabelle is a Chicago Printing Press No. 11, made by the Sigwalt Company in the late 1800’s & early 1900’s. These presses were built on exactly the same principals as the large presses of the same era that we use to produce all of our products – this one is just miniaturized! (For example: our Chandler & Price press weighs 1,200 pounds, and this press weighs 8 pounds!) This particular style of press was often used by schools, offices, pharmacists, churches and hobbyists in the way a label maker or desktop computer would be used today. This size & style of press originally sold for $12.00, complete with type, ink, rollers, tweezers, paper, and more!
A few months ago, we walked into a very dark and cluttered antique store in Tacoma, WA. In true American Pickers fashion, we looked high & low, under things & over things, sifting through boxes and piles of unnameable old things. After some searching, Brad moved a pile of bicycle wheels aside and found something that made us both gasp. In that odd place, we found an 1880′s era Galley Proof Press by the Chandler & Price company (the same company that made our large platen press).
An iphone photo from the day we found the press.