MINOT, N.D. (AP) - Computer-generated print can’t compare to the old letterpress technique, according to a graphic design student who spent his summer restoring an antique printing press.
It was an appreciation for letterpress that led Burlington native Shawn Marshall, a senior at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, to intern with the Emmons County Record in Linton. His tasks went beyond newspaper layout to include letterpress work and the restoration of an 1897 Challenge Gordon platen press at a museum in Braddock.
“I felt like I got some good experience and know more about letterpress now,” he said.
Marshall devoted more hours than required for the internship due to his dedication to the restoration project, said Allan Burke, curator of the Braddock News Letterpress Museum and publisher emeritus of the Emmons County Record.
“He is very meticulous so it turned out beautifully,” Burke told the Minot Daily News (https://bit.ly/2dpNdWP ). “I would guess that someone less meticulous could have done it in less time, but we wouldn’t have ended up with as nice a product as we have now. So it was a special thing, and we are very excited to have that press restored.”
Burke had mentioned restoration in making suggestions to Marshall about how he might want to spend some of his internship. He had no expectation that Marshall might actually want to do it. The 119-year-old press had been in such bad shape that Burke wasn’t sure it would ever be restored. It is a rare piece, with maybe a half dozen left in the country.
The press was originally used for printing envelopes, letterheads and business cards at a weekly newspaper in Isabel, South Dakota. The former publisher donated the press to the Timber Lake and Area Historical Society, but the museum did not have space for it. Instead, the Challenge Gordon was stored uncovered in an open building, where it deteriorated for many years.
Kathy Nelson, publisher of the Timber Lake Topic and a long-time member of the historical society, arranged for the press to be transferred to the Braddock museum, which is part of the South Central Threshing Association’s pioneer village. There the Challenge Gordon sat, waiting for someone to put it back to rights.
“It was really full of a lot of rust and dirt,” Marshall recalled of the first time he set eyes on it.
Marshall disassembled the machine into its many parts. An electrolysis process was used to remove the buildup of rust, ink and dirt. Marshall used a drill with a buffer wheel to prepare the pieces for priming with white paint. The final coat was blue. To add detail, he pin-striped various pieces in gold.
He had taken some pictures before disassembling the machine to assist with putting it back together. Marshall said it helped that parts tended to only fit together a certain way. The biggest problem was getting a rotating arm back in position because it had become misshapen due to the need to pound it off in taking the machine apart.
“We had to grind it down to get it back on. The screws that would go in to hold it back on, we had trouble with that, because the thread hole didn’t let the screws back in. We had to drill them out and put bolts in, but it ended up working,” he said. “It works good.”
Marshall had hoped to complete the project before his internship was to end in early August, but it wasn’t to be. He took a break in mid-August before college resumed, even though he still had work to do.
“I said I was done because I was getting a little bit frustrated at getting it back together and how long it takes,” he said. He returned over the Labor Day weekend to finish the restoration.
Burke saw a tremendous work ethic in the young man, who labored in the summer heat in a building without air conditioning.
“Not very many of any age would be quite that dedicated to the project,” he said.
It paid off when Marshall was able to demonstrate the treadle-operated letterpress at the annual threshing bee and antique show in Braddock Sept. 10-11. He printed souvenir cards with type set up diagonally.
“Which is a challenge for most people,” Marshall said. “It’s still a challenge for me since I haven’t really done it too much. Traditionally, they would set it up horizontally.”
Marshall likes the artistry of letterpress.
“I feel like I have more freedom in arranging how the type can be placed,” he said.
There’s also an “old” look to the results that comes from any imperfections in the metal letters and having a bit of an imprint into the paper, he said. It also is possible to work with multiple colored inks, if someone has the patience to spend the time it takes.
Marshall learned to love letterpress when he took a class on the printing method with Lucy Ganje, a now retired UND professor who helped him demonstrate the Challenge Gordon at the Braddock show.
“I tend to like hands-on things. I guess I just kind of took a liking to it right away,” Marshall said.
He said it interests him to imagine how people years ago employed letterpress printers, which to them was cutting-edge technology. He would someday like to have his own letterpress print shop. He traveled to Minnesota to buy a Chandler & Price letterpress printer, which his father, Greg, hauled to Burlington to store for him. The Chandler & Price isn’t quite as rare as the Challenge Gordon, but it had one big advantage going for it.
“That one is in working order,” Marshall said.
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Information from: Minot Daily News, https://www.minotdailynews.com
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