LBP - Issue № 2 - Snapshots from the Past
LBP Issue #2: Stats from the launch, a yellow Kodak box, research trips, and reconnecting with old friends.
Linotype Book Project - Issue № 2
An Update So Soon?!
I wasn’t planning to send a second newsletter until after my research trip in the middle of June, but so much has happened since the launch of the project that I wanted to share. After all, I guess that is the point of the newsletter, isn’t it?
A Small, Yellow Box
I’m sitting in a painfully-chic downtown Denver coffeeshop holding a box slightly smaller than the size of my Apple iPhone 13 Mini. Barely anyone my age (born in 1982) would recognize the box, but anyone older likely would. It is a yellow box with black and red accents and the word “Kodak” on one side. Inside the box are 16 small, white squares with Ektachrome slide photographs mounted inside them.
I was sent this box of slides by Stan Coutant from California after he signed up for the newsletter. Excited about the project, he sent me a long email about his 14 years of experience with Intertype typecasting machines. Over the years, I’ve received many of these emails from excited printers and Linotype/Intertype operators and it is always enjoyable to read their accounts of life with the machines. No matter the sender, the tone of the emails are always one of fond memories of cantankerous machines and salty people—and the stories always bring a smile to my face.
This email was unique because Stan shared a link to photos from his visit to the Intertype factory in Brooklyn, NY in 1966. They were shot on a whim, while Stan was visiting New York City during his first and only trip to the East Coast. Knowing he would have a bit of spare time, he wrote to Intertype and asked if he could have a tour of the factory. Thankfully for all of us today in 2023, they said yes!
There are images of several women at pantograph machines, men in a chaotic pile of keyboards, rows of Intertype machines in the process of being built, and a man staring at the camera with his shirt sleeves rolled up while working at a machine that does something with brass matrices. The photos feel like a time capsule, and I suppose they are in a way.
I had actually seen these photos a few months ago on the Metal Type forum but the images were small and low-resolution. After some back-and-forth over email, Stan said these slides had been digitized several years ago. I asked if he thought he could find the original slides; he said that he highly doubted it, but he would look. To his surprise, he found the slides and promptly sent them to me in the mail.
So here I am, currently researching the best way to get these slides digitized, preserved, and prints made for Stan. Will any of the images make it into my final book? I have no idea. But I’m excited to see these beautiful images of simple, everyday life at the Intertype factory in all their high-resolution glory.
For me, this is all part of the process and similar to how I fell down the rabbit hole of the Printing Films Archive. Getting to preserve and share images like these is what I love about research. When given the time to dig in, you never know what beautiful and special things you’ll uncover.
Statistics & Reach - Facts & Figures
One of my goals with this project is to be as transparent as I can be throughout researching, writing, and creating the book. With this in mind, I wanted to share a few stats from the launch:
- Over 6,000 unique visitors to the LBP website
- 365 subscribers to the newsletter
- 56 paid subscribers, which is a 15% conversion rate
- 162 downloads of the free copy of “Linotype: The Film”
- Almost $3,000 raised by paid subscribers (most one-time or annually, but many monthly)
Research Trips Planned
And speaking of research, I’m excited to announce I’ve booked my flights and accommodations for my first two research trips: New York City to see the Columbia University Rare Book & Manuscript Library and Boston to visit the Museum of Printing. These visits are funded by generous premium subscribers, so I must say a huge THANK YOU to all of you!
I’ll be sharing more from what I discover in future newsletters, but if you’d like more frequent updates, make sure to follow on Instagram for photos and videos.
Contact with Old Friends
Since the launch of the project, I’ve been reaching out to old friends that I made during the film. One of them is Dave & Beth Seat of Hot Metal Services. Dave is the only traveling Linotype machinist still working in the United States and I am happy to report they are still on the road and keeping Linotypes, Intertypes, Ludlows, and other printing machines in running condition!
I’ve also been in contact with Frank Romano, Steven Heller (author and emcee of the film premiere), Otmar Hoefer in Germany (“Otmar with one t, not two ts”), and Carl Schlesinger’s daughter (who donated films and books to the MOP after her father died in 2014). It has been great to reconnect with them and they have all had positive things to say about the book project.
The Mysterious etaoin shrdlu
Have you seen the words “etaoin shrdlu” mentioned in conjunction with the Linotype before and been confused? Are you curious about what it means or how to pronounce it? Well, now is your time to learn and become just that much cooler for knowing some of the Linotype lingo.
With that, I’m signing off for now,
Doug
