Platen presses -- History

Scope and Contents From the Collection: "Graphic Communications Through the Ages" commemorates significant milestones in the history of communications technologies: the development of paper and character forms, typography design, and printing. The paintings were commissioned in 1966 by the Kimberly-Clark Corporation of Neenah, Wisconsin, who employed three internationally-known historical illustrators to produce the series: Robert A. Thom (1915-1979), Douglas M. Parrish (1922-2001), and George I. Parrish, Jr.(1930-1992)....

Overview

The Golding Tabletop Platen Press...

Overview

The Höhner Tabletop Press was made by the German company Höhner Maschinenfabrik. They made small presses which bore various names depending on the country in which they were being distributed. Their presses were close copies of Golding presses.

Overview

The Ideal No. 3 Press was manufactured in the 1880s.

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The Universal Press was invented by Merrit Galley in 1869. It was the first of its type of press, having a stationary bed and a platen that rolled to a vertical position before gliding forward so that right before the impression, the platen was parallel to the bed and moved perpendicularly towards it. The standard disk and roller inking method is also changed, having instead a full-width fountain and distributors that transferred ink to a large drum where it was picked up by form-rollers.

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The Original Heidelberg Platen Press was manufactured around 1956. The Heidelberg company began experimenting with an automatic platen in 1912. In 1925, thie style of press came to be known as the Heidelberg, later nicknamed the Windmill for its paper feed arm, which moves in a cyclical motion.

Overview

The RIT MechE Tabletop Platen Press was desgined and constructed in 2014-2015 by RIT Engineering students George Chiu, Brendan Domos, Spencer Herzog, Nathan Sandidge, and Kevin Weinstein. The work was completed to fulfill a multi-disciplinary engineering project. It is a hand-operated platen press.

Overview

The model and manufacturer of this press has not been identified. It resembles the Standard Level Press (manufactured by H.H. Thorp of Cleveland, OH.), the Victor Printing Press (first manufactured by J. Cook & Co., later by Kelsey & Co., both of Meriden, CT.), the Columbian (manufactured by Curtis & Mitchell of Boston, MA.), and the Pilot Lever Press (manufactured by Chandler & Price of Cleveland, OH.). However, none are an exact match.