Ralph,

I am not familiar with the text you are discussing, so I cannot make any
recommendations, however, the Baltimore Museum of Industry has a complete
print shop with numerous working presses and linotype machines. Oldest
working press is 1825, though, so I don't know if it applies. The whole room
is hands on in the sense that most the items work and guests, with the
proper supervision of course, can print pages of text on a number of
different presses. When a qualified volunteer is available, the linotype
machine is also demonstrated. Also, in their award winning Kids Cannery
exhibit, kids print labels for their own oyster cans, a label that includes
their school or group name.

I helped design some of these exhibits, but my contributions were more in
the administration of them as their Director of Ed. for about three years. I
can answer your questions regarding how to run them, but you might want to
call their education department (410/727-4808) for more background and
suggestions.

Bottom line: These are great activities, made all the more applicable
because much of what we accomplish on word processors and page layout
programs relates directly to the time when type was set by hand. From word
etymology (leading, font, upper and lower case letters) to the return to
classic styles after a dark interregnum of mono-spaced font, typewriter
dominated rules, people can relate to typesetting, printing, and, sometimes,
even book binding. However, these activities require a lot of preparation
and clean up. Cleaning the presses and type and sorting type when you are
done with it takes hours. (which is why it was the apprentices' job) Make
sure you budget appropriate resources (people, money, time, and equipment)
to the ongoing expenses of maintaining these types of activities. Your staff
must be welled trained as well. Inking a press is not simply a matter of
smearing on the gunky stuff. Done incorrectly it can take a press off the
floor for the day or longer and can add more hours to cleaning your type.
Oh, and have plenty of rags, soap,  & type wash handy. Printing is messy
business.

Hope this helps.


-- 
Matthew White
Director of Museums
The Mount Washington Observatory
North Conway, New Hampshire

Ralph Calhoun said:

> We are developing an exhibit on the
> making (printing) of a Bible. In the
> exhibit we want to have hands on
> activities related to printing,
> including rubricating initial letters,
> printing simple lines of type or
> possibly pages, etc. Has anyone out
> there created or seen hands-on
> activities associated with books and
> printing.
> 
> Also, does anyone know where I can find
> a miniature model of Gutenberg’s
> printing press?
> 
> PS-For those of you in the big Coca-Cola
> Debate. My museum sells Coca-Cola from a
> 1950’s Vendo 110 Coke machine in 8 oz.
> Bottles for five cents each. (That’s
> right, five cents each!)
> 
> Want to know why?
> 
> You can probably figure it out if you
> visit us at www.bmuseum.org.
> 
> Thanks
> Ralph E. Calhoun, Jr., Executive
> Director
> Biedenharn Museum and Gardens

========================================================Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).