A new addition

I kicked myself out of bed early today to drive to an auction. Like really early, say about 5:10 or so. It was way too early, though I guess it was really only about 45 minutes earlier than I get up most days. It must of been that it was on a Saturday, though it didn't help that it was damp and foggy, as the picture from in front of my apartment and the photo of the sun and the fog illustrate.

So what really motivated me? The auction posting had only a fragment of a description but it did list an Excelsior 5X8 printer--that was the sum of the listing, but it was enough to get me there. They had, if the auction bill was correct, a five inch by eight inch Kelsey Excelsior hand-operated tabletop letter press. It was worth the early hour to check it out, and I did.

But why, most of you are asking. I have always wanted to be a printer and if I had to choose an art form, I would choose to be a printer. I know, how weird am I, and just how big of a geek am I? Apparently my weird-ness and geek-ness knows no boundaries. I just like the printing process and always have. When I used to work at the paper, I used to love just watching the press fly, and that was a mere offset press. I used to lurk in the printing job shop where they had a beautifully restored Heidelberg two-color press, just so I could here the "thunk-sheesh of the press. Maybe I was deprived as a kid, but this was an artform that I wanted to play with. How odd--I leave for WA later this week to pick up the rest of my stuff and in that stuff is a printer that just plugs into a computer and is truly state of the art, and now I was happy to even learn of a 75-100 year old press that may or may not even work?

I was. And lo and behold, I am the proud owner of the aforementioned press. From what I can tell, it is about 85 years old. I was a bit cautious because it was pretty rusty and I know it was missing a few parts, like the chase, furniture, the rollers and of course, the type. But the price was right. I made the rookie mistake of coming in too early, and I was the only bidder at $25.00. I probably could have gotten it for $5.00 or $10.00 if I was more patient, but I also know that I would have bid up to about $150.00, for presses in this shape sell on E-Bay for around $400.00. So I cheerfully bid $25.00 and was very happy to win. I am on my way to being a printer! Soon, the East St. Germain Times, tomorrow the Chicago Tribune!!! Well, the goal is to at least be able to print my own business cards by summer's end.

Though the press was cheap, it is not cheap in the long run. Rollers are about $125.00, the chase is $80, and a set or two of type is probably $160.00. But fundamentally the press is in exceptional shape. The rust is simple surface rust and it maintains almost all of the original green and black enamel and it even retained the gold lettering that adorned the press when it left Connecticut that long ago. I think that I can easily restore it to working condition, which would make it a $1,200 press. That might be fun, and there also are those business cards which will now cost about a five hundred dollars for 50 or 60 of them. It also further anchors my apartment, as it is very heavy--not as heavy as a kiln I once helped to move, but you certainly want to tighten your belt and pull up your pants before you lift its 100-plus pounds!

I know, a totally mindless and meaningless post, but it was a good day, and it was well worth getting up before sunrise. I am sure I will share more adventures of Jason, Boy Printer, as I figure out how to make all this work.