What started in 1957 as a bunch of paper sales executives getting together for lunch has turned into a 60-year-old institution known as The Papyrus Club and now it is throwing open its doors for new members.

When the group first started meeting, lunch was held at the Turf Club Hotel in Caulfield but now the group meets twice a year at the Box Hill RSL Club to catch up with old friends and contacts and meet new people who all share a love of the industry.

Leo Franklin, the then sales man ager of L.A Wade Paper Merchants, which became Dalton Fine Paper, initially coordinated the group which gradually grew to include members from all branches of the graphic arts – from design and agency contacts, to pre-press providers, printers, bookbinders and other associates.

Over the years, others took his place including Ron Lanyon, Geoff Code, Don Hauser and now Brian Longmore, formerly of Spicers Paper. This group of ‘industry doyens’ has flourished as an unofficial listening post for printing industry news, appointments, scuttlebutt…and the occasional furphy.

“Papyrus Club members generally lived and worked during the halcyon days of local proprietorship and control of production,” Longmore said.

“Many of them vividly remember the days of Linotype machines and platen presses, and lived through the enormous transformation of the industry through the 1970s and 80s, to the present day – and they’re all still vitally interested in developments today.”

Longmore says in recent years invitations to new members have been relatively few and far between – an oversight which prompted the group at its last meeting to authorise a ‘membership drive’ to swell numbers and carry on the group’s proud tradition.

“We would welcome anyone, either still working in the industry or now-retired, who enjoys renewing old friendships and making new ones, sharing a story and a laugh, and learning more about the industry, past and present,” Longmore says.

“In particular, we’d love to see some younger members come along and would warmly welcome more industry women – unsurprisingly, given that print was such a male-dominated industry, we could use a bit more balance in that regard!”

The Papyrus Club will next meet in May 2020 in Melbourne. Anyone interested in attending can contact Brian Longmore by email at brianlongmore3@gmail.com or give him a call on 0412 487 488.

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