Re: lefty's

In a message dated 06/25/2004 5:18:14 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
jsinger@igc.org writes:
When I was in college, I bought a printshop to make a little pocket 
money [the GI Bill wasn't enough to buy the beer, too]. This was a 
hand-set printshop. When you handset type [wonder if anyone does 
anymore?] you set the type upside down and backward in a contraption 
called a "stick," which is definitely a gadget for the right-handed. 
You hold the stick in your left hand, hold the type in place with your 
left thumb, and select and place new letters with your right hand


My grandfather was the owner and editor of a small weekly newspaper in the 
Florida panhandle.  He also did fine letter-press printing on the off days.  He 
had bought a 
linotype about 1928 - I guess one of the first - it was a monster machine - 
and had 
a man to run it, but he did a lot of his own type-setting by hand.  I have 
seen him 
many times do it just as you describe.  He was pretty ambidextrous.  He could 
fill 
the "stick" very quickly - his hand just flew.  I doubt anyone does that 
anymore, 
especially now that you can do pretty fancy desk-top publishing from a PC.  I
sometimes think he would have enjoyed computers.
Auralie

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