Guthrie’s State Capital Publishing Museum presses fundraiser

Start the presses!

The State Capital Publishing Museum in Guthrie got one of its vintage presses going. It’s an exciting development for fans of vintage printing, Oklahoma territorial history buffs, and inkstained wretches everywhere.

You can see it in action — and hold a vintage print job in your hand — Oct. 7 at the first (coronavirus-delayed) fundraiser for restoring the nearly 120-yearold, 50,000-square-foot office building and publishing plant at 301 W Harrison Ave.

Organizers used the press to print party favors for the come-and-go affair, featuring a silent auction and entertainment, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

“That is an old Chandler & Price press that we know was in the building as early as 1911. It may be original to the building, but we don’t know for certain,” said Lynn Bilodeau, volunteer CEO of the nonprofit Guthrie Tomorrow Coalition.

Bring a donation. Or give, and register for the event, at publishingmuseum.org. Volunteer. Follow the project at facebook.com/publishingmuseum.

Entertainment for “A Night for the Museum” will be by Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame pianist Justin Echols. Hors d’oeuvres will be provided by Granny Had One, with beer and wine provided by WanderFolk Spirits.

The building was the home of the turn-of-the-20th-century State Capital newspaper and was a museum for years

PROVIDED BY LYNN BILODEAU An antique Washington handpress, a kind common in the 19th century, is one of numerous presses and other printing equipment at the State Capital Publishing Museum in Guthrie.