What’s Going on at the Museum
Museum of Printing Calendar
MARCH
- Saturday, March 29
10 to 4 - Winter Garage & Book Sale
For more details on these workshops and events, see our full Calendar page.
For information and registration contact .APRIL
- Saturday April 5
10 to 3 - Letterpress Intro+ Workshop
Event leader: Mitchel Ahern
Cost: $125
Limited to 6 people
For information and registration contact
- Saturday April 5
1 pm - Printing and the American Revolution lecture
Speaker: Frank Romano
- Saturday, April 12
10 am to 4 pm - Book Arts Open Studio (drop in as you wish)
Bring your projects and get creative among friends at our Book Arts Open Studio, which includes access to a variety of reference books & tools including: paper cutter, board sheer, book press and open conversation with other book artists.
- Saturday, April 12
1 pm - History of the Printing Press lecture
Speaker: Frank Romano
- Saturday April 19
- We are open as usual.
- Saturday, April 26
1 pm - How to Design a Typeface lecture
Speaker: Joe Treacy
For more details on these workshops and events, see our full Calendar page.
For information and registration contact .- Saturday, March 29
The Folding of the Paper Mill: Paper Samples through the Decades
Visitors can explore and learn how paper mills adapted and evolved throughout the years through this new exhibit at the Museum.
$15,000 Matching Gift Opportunity
One of our members has generously pledged $15,000 in matching funds, which means that every dollar donated to the Museum of Printing between now and November 1, 2024 is effectively doubled! Please help us reach this goal. Every dollar counts!
Update: We extended the date of this matching grant to December 31st and we reached our goal. Many thanks to all who contributed.
Thirty five Years of Printing for the Gloucester Fishing Industry, 1977–2012
In early 2024 I was asked by the Director of The Cape Ann Museum to document the history of my printing business and its connection to the Massachusetts fishing industry.
The following story is about my company, and recounts some of the global, national, and local trends that affected us in Gloucester during the last several decades. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Self-Publishing and On-Demand Printing with Jim Hamilton
Saturday, June 22nd at 1 pm
Did you miss Jim’s talk? Not to worry! He has provided a scripted PDF for those who are interested.
Read all about us in the Globe!
The Boston Globe finds us “fit to print”
What a visitor finds is a museum as marvelous as any in new England. Here is Ali Baba’s cave crossed with a print shop and pressroom. One of only three museums in the United states dedicated to printing and graphic arts, it has “the largest collection of typographic technology and ephemera in the world,” says MoP president Frank Romano. “We’re trying to save the past for the future,” he says.
Read Mark Feeney’s article in the Boston Sunday Globe, October 22, 2023 [pdf] ↠
The World Cup of Printing History with Jim Hamilton
In this Print Media Centr podcast, Jim Hamilton, Museum of Printing board member and social media volunteer, shares his perspective on the #worldcupofprintinghistory Twitter hashtag that the museum ran during the Women’s World Cup in 2019 (and also in 2018 for the Men’s tournament).
https://podcasts.printmediacentr.com/podcast/the-world-cup-of-printing-history-with-jim-hamilton/
Mimeograph Machines
In the days before inkjet printers and Xerox machines, multiple copies were made on mimeograph machines.
In 1876, Thomas Edison filed the first US patent for autographic printing by means of a duplicating press with an electric pen for cutting stencils. A subsequent patent followed, and then Chicago inventor and businessman, Albert Blake Dick, took it to the next level. He merged his efforts with Edison’s, improved the stencils and licensed the patents. In 1887, the A. B. Dick Company released the Model “0” flatbed duplicator selling for $12 ($284 today). Dick named the machine the Edison Mimeograph and it was an immediate success. The company went on to become the world’s largest manufacturer of mimeograph equipment.
Awesome wood type
This font, beautiful in its size, color and simplicity, is on display in our art gallery. The Museum is fortunate to hold an extensive wood type collection that has been acquired over many years, including several sizable and relatively recent donations of significance. Stay tuned for future posts. . . .
Download our Letterpress Presses poster (pdf, 1.8 MB)
Download our Image Carrier Poster (pdf, 684 KB)
Programs are supported in part by grants from the Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Merrimac, Middleton, North Andover, West Newbury Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
