This is the BIG one
I am overjoyed to announce that we now have our Miehle Model 00 running at Printers’ Hall in Mt. Pleasant, IA. I didn’t know if we would be able to pull this off in time for the Wayzgoose that starts in a few weeks, but the leviathon is now a living beast!
This press weighs in at 30,000 lbs. and can print a maximum sheet size of 54” x 38”. As far as we know, this is the very last one still in original operating order. Built in 1906, it was installed at the Bureau of Printing and Engraving in Washington DC.in 1907. It remained there until 1961 when it went to Yellow Springs, AR and printed there until 1993. It was purchased in 1995 by John Wilcox, who put it into storage. It was gifted to Printers’ Hall in 2010.
This press was so well cared for that there is virtually no wear on any of the gears. Not bad for a 106 year-old machine.
It has been cleaned, polished, re-wired and will be operating during the Amalgamated Printers’ Association Wayzgoose. It is awesome.
The wayzgoose is coming up soon and is open to non-members as well as members. It starts on June 20 with workshops during the day on Wednesday and Thursday. Printers’ Hall will be open to everyone at 5 p.m. on those days until well into the evening. Friday PH will be open all day and everyone is welcome to come and play with all of our equipment. Saturday morning there will be a huge swap meet and there will be an auction on Saturday aftefrnoon.
All the details of this event can be found at www.2012iowayzgoose.org.
The registration form tab says 2011, but it really is for 2012.
Right now we have 47 registered members and 18 sales tables already reserved. More people and more tables should be spoken for as we get closer to the event.
I hope to see some of you there.
Rick
Wish I could make it Rick, alas, too much tied up financially.
I emailed you a while back on the email you have listed here…
Dave
I sent my registration in yesterday - and I can hardly wait to see this beast in action!
Hi Bill,
I look forward to meeting you. We have LOTS of goodies to play with. We have a Babcock press powered by a steam engine, a Mentges folder powered by a steam engine, a Kelly B, 3 Heidelberg Windmills, 3 platen jobbers, 3 handpresses, 3 Linotypes and 1 Intertype, a Ludlow, an Elrod, 2 Vandercooks, a Kluge, a couple of paper cutters, and of course “the monster of the Midway” Miehle Model 00 mentioned above. PLUS there will be all the great letterpress printers who will also be present.
There is also usually something for everybody at the swap meet, old pros and newbies alike. I’ll be selling cases of affordable type for the newbies (and perhaps more established printers because “the type you don’t have is always better”).
I’ll be selling cases in the $15 - $20 range for faces like 14 pt. Ariston, 48 pt. Empire, 12 pt. Engravers Text, one case containing 12, 14 & 18 pt. Broadway, one case containing 6, 12 & 18 pt. Engravers Roman, a case with two sizes on 18 pt. Copperplate Gothic, a case containing 18 Engravers Shaded & 3 smaller Copperplate Gothic fonts, 18 pt. Type Roman Shaded, etc.
Rick
Registration sent! Printer’s Hall (and the entire Mt. Pleasant complex) is quite impressive. I’ve attended the September swap meet a few times and always came home with more than I needed. Nothing is overpriced. Usually the opposite. But more than anything, I’m especially looking forward to learning & seeing the variety presses and pressman in action.
K. James
Thanks for the kind words, we try hard to make this especially geared for those just begining or wanting to learn more. Affordability is how we are going to pass all this “stuff” along to the next generation.
One piece I forgot to mention above is our Kickock Rulng Machine, which we believe to be last operational one in the U.S. It will be running during the Wayzgoose. It is a marvel to see in action.
I look forward to seeing everyone that shows up. I’ll start camping out down there on Saturday the 16th because we need several days to get last-minute things done, everything dusted-off and in operational order.
I’ll try to have some beer left for when everyone else gets there.
Rick
Sadly living in VT and just really hearing about this means no 2012 Wayzgoose for me. Hopefully next year!!
the Printing Museun in North Andover, MA is having their thing on Fathers day, about 2 weeks, they have vendors and lots of their old equipment running. its not too far from Vermont.
3 hours and some change :)
I will more than likely be attending that one. I will leave wealthy in ephemera and broke :)
Hopefully Dale Guild will be there with some of their offerings, I know they are offering through NAGraphics these days but one can hope!
Swamp Press usually has a table there, he is in central MA and casts type, his stuff is pretty good, has a large selection.
John Barret will be there, along with the usual gang of folks selling miscellaneous printing bits. I hear the Museum has several fonts of wood type too!
The APA Wayzgoose travels to a different location each year. Last year’s was in Lansing, MI and this year it is with us in Mt. Pleasant, IA (don’t know yet where it will be next year).
But…..we are also the permanent host for the Annual Midwest & Great Northern Printer’s Fair which will be held on September 21 and 22 this year. Friday will be an all-day playday at the museum and Saturday morning will be the swap meet (usually 20 tables or more of goodies). Go to www.oldthreshers.org and click on Events for some pictures and more details. This will be another chance to come and see 15 tons of letterpress iron in motion as we fire up the Miehle 00 once again.
Rick
I am looking to pick up a nice Aldine in metal. I have two cabinets of wood type, mostly original Hamilton and another foundry whose name escapes me at the moment. The smallest I have is 1” but metal is what I need most. Well type and spacing material but hey who knows!
I know my son will love seeing all the machinery and everything and what better way to spend a Fathers day than at a printing fair!
Would love to go, but I can’t seem to figure a way of getting there from the airport. The place seems inaccessible by public transportation. There’s the Amtrak, but a 47 hour ride there and back seems like a bit too much.
There is a Commuter Rail station in North Andover, and then it’s an easy cab ride from the train station to the Museum.
Admittedly, it’s complicated…
Hi Bill,
I believe Oprion is talking about Mt. Plesant, IA. We certainly are not “on the beaten path” but we do have Amtrak service. Mt. Pleasant is about a 45-minute drive south of Interstate-80 at Iowa City. Our location is actually quite ideal to draw people from the Midwest. We are about the same distance and time from St. Louis, Chicago, Omaha, Kansas City, and Minneapolis, thereby giving no one a particular advantage or disadvantage to get here. Closest regional airport is at Cedar Rapids and that is less than an hour away by rental car. I live west of Des Moines so it even takes me a little under three hours to drive to Mt Pleasant.
Rick
oops - well, yes. However, it is kind of nice that there are so many Letterpress-oriented events going on that I’d get them confused…