PRESSING ALONG
1950s era printing shop alive and well; Open house Sept. 22
In a digital world, two mid-century letterpress machines and their operators are still working and paying their way.
The small facility is part of the large commercial printing company ArborOakland Group, which is inviting guests to visit the print shop at 4237 Normandy Court during an open house from 3-7 p.m. Sept. 22.
“People will be able to see 50- to 60-year-old equipment making their personal cards,” said Don Kirkland, president of ArborOakland, headquartered in Royal Oak. “They can select an image and they will walk away with their own notecards and letters.”
Small groups can visit but have to register for the open house on Eventbrite or email the company at info@ arboroakland.com.
Employees will talk about the historical printing process and guest John Benson will carve linoleum blocks and discuss the process of making graphics by hand.
“Graphics professionals have an appreciation for the craft” of older printing presses, Kirkland said. “When you get specialty invitations that are embossed or debossed, those are all signs of a quality and, frankly, an experience.”
ArborOakland got the old-style letterpress studio about four years years ago when it acquired Utley Brothers, a specialty printer in Troy.
The letterpress studio was moved next door to ArborOakland’s 27,000-square-foot building.
“We rebuilt it with wood and brick” Kirkland said, “and it looks and feels like you are stepping back in time.”
Three people work in the letterpress studio. Kirkland credits them as artisans.
Every week, ArborOakland is running project orders on the letterpresses, which include working with silver or bronze foils that are pressed into paper to create an image or letter.
According to ArborOakland’s website, demand for unique or high-quality printing products has increased in recent years.
The small press studio has different presses for embossing or foil stamping and uses special plates or old wood type. The oldest press is a 1955 Heidelberg Windmill.
“If you are having a major event, you want your invitations to represent the significance and meaning of the event itself,” Kirkland said, “whether it’s a wedding, bar mitzvah or a fundraising event. Other people like the old world charm of it.
“A letterpress invitation or poster has a tactile feel to it — it’s not digitally printed and it’s not computer based.”
He compares customers’ demand for
letterpress orders to shoppers who buy a range of handmade work from Esty, even though they could buy a mass-produced item online or at a mall.
“This is something that still shows craftsmanship,” Kirkland said.
One of the people who will talk to visitors at the upcoming Sept. 22 event is Ralph Rinaldi, a printer with the Detroit Historical Museum’s working 1840 print shop exhibit, which he helped become operational in 1981.
“At the end of the day, we are trying to carry on the history of printing while history has taken us in a different direction,” Kirkland said. ‘That’s our role in continuing the legacy of the craft.”
The open house is the first one since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. The event will be smaller than usual, but another open house is expected to be organized for some time in December, Kirkland said.