Help Save the Linotype

A personal letter from Museum President, Frank Romano

Dear Friend of the Museum,

Your help is needed to support something that is very near and dear to my heart. You may have heard that I started my career in the mailroom of the Mergenthaler Linotype Company in Brooklyn, New York in 1959. At that time, Linotype machines were still central to the production of newspapers, books, and other printed matter. Did you know that over 200,000 linecasters of all makes were manufactured from 1886 to the 1970s? Less than 1,000 of those machines remain today and only a fraction of those are still operational. Few people truly understand the extent of the revolution that was made possible by the Linotype Company and its competitors. Inventor Thomas Edison called the Linotype “the 8th wonder of the world.”

Yet the historical impact of the Linotype is at risk of being forgotten or lost. Very few people still know how to operate a Linotype. Fewer still know how to service and repair Linotype machines to keep them running. Some Linotype parts are hard to find. Linotype matrices are in short supply. We must act now to save the Linotype for future generations.

With this in mind, the Museum of Printing is mounting a fundraising campaign to preserve the legacy of the Linotype. The Museum is in a unique position to embrace this important mission. Our extensive collection incorporates three Linotypes:

• Mergenthaler’s 1883 second prototype called the Second Band Machine
• A fully operational Model 31 Linotype
• A 1972 Elektron II, the last Linotype ever built

The Museum of Printing strives to be the major repository of information about these unique machines. Through seminars, demonstrations, and workshops, we educate future generations. In addition, we maintain over 4,000 sets of Linotype font drawings, all the Linotype specimen books, much ephemera, and many significant and unique historical artifacts.

The funds raised will go to:

• Support the repair and maintenance of our Model 31 Linotype
• Training operators and maintenance professionals
• Educate the public about the amazing story of the Linotype via lectures, movies, and hands-on demonstrations
• Enlarge and improve our Linotype exhibit with enhanced displays

I encourage you to join with us in keeping this important piece of printing history alive. Please donate as generously as you can to our Linotype Legacy Fund.

As a token of our appreciation, every contributor will receive a beautiful letterpress print of an engraving of a vintage Linotype.

Those who can support us with a $100 contribution will receive an original 1954 Ottmar Mergenthaler commemorative German postage stamp designed by Hermann Zapf.

Contributors at the $500 level will receive the previously mentioned items plus an envelope with a USA Linotype stamp.

Contributors at the $1,000 level and above will receive all these items plus a signed copy of my book “Machine Writing and Typesetting,” which tells the story of the typewriter and the Linotype and how they are related.

With my sincere thanks,

Frank Romano, President

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