A Word on he Words

FORGIVE me while I reminisce.

In the olden days all newspaper pages were created using type made with molten lead. I worked in this low-tech way for years.

You’re reading 8.8-point type on a 9.5-point leading. Points are a typographical measure invented long before computers took over.

In the old days a point was 1/12th of a pica, there were six picas to an inch. So a point was 1/72nd of an inch.

To further complicate matters, picas were only used to measure column widths. Type was sized in points. The leading was the height of the block the type sat on, leaving a little space between lines.

Dashes had particular recipes. An Em dash — was the width of an upper-case M in the point size being used. An En dash – was half the height of the type, the width of a lower-case n.

Upper-case means capitals. The term is from when type was set by hand and the letters were kept in open-topped boxes. The capitals were always in the higher boxes.

Photos were half-tone plates atop yet more lead blocks.

Pages were made up in a dirty, noisy, crowded place called a caseroom. Today, the harsh banter, drinking culture and, at times, violence wouldn’t be tolerated in any workplace across the world.

Best years of my life!