Masseeley

I recently acquired a press known as the Masseeley ticket and showcard machine, model 8 along with brass fonts of various sizes. The manufacturer of this machine was Masson Seeley & Co. Ltd. probably around the 40s or 50s, being used for in-store pricing and display cards. Although the brass letters resemble those used for hot-foiling, these vary in the fact that only the outline of the characters is type high which would suggest that it works on some kind of embossing principle allied with the fact that this machine has no facility for heating, etc. as would a hot-foil machine. Any information with regards to the operation of this machine would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, John.

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Hi John,

This isn’t going to help much, but I just thought I’d comment-

When I was in my early 20’s I worked as an in store ‘ticket writer’. I worked alongside another chap about 7 years older and the most amazing old guy I’ve ever met; a man named Laurence Gaston, of French descent. He was around 72 years of age then, and still the best!

We used to hand write every ticket and banner for instore use, using great brushes which cost a fortune from Wrights of Lymm- I think thats in Norfolk, England. We all had to learn a particular style of brush lettering, which was very spontaneous- there are similar computer fonts now.
I still have 2 brushes which I use regularly… 30 years later! We had empty bean cans filled with poster paint and would get through 5 or 6 cans a day!

There were 2 girls in the same studio running 5 Masson Seeley presses, mostly using black transfer ribbon- but they were heat operated. I remember they used to break down a lot during the summer months, but the throughput on these machines was impressive, as was the girls skill in maximising material.

Best Regards,

Russ

I also own a Masseeley ticket and showcard printing machine. This one is a model 12.
It uses 1mm thick card and a contrasting colour paper on top and then lay the brass type on top. The lever on the side is then pulled down to press the type which cuts through the paper as it compresses it into the card.
It has been used in our retail company as long as I can remember and dates back to at least the 1930”s.
It is now for sale if anyone is interested.
Regards , Terry

Terry, where are you located???????

My address is; Intouch
116 Coventry street,
Kidderminster,
Worcestershire,
DY10 2BH