Reader Reaction: Good old days

 


 

I miss the ornate lion’s feet on Albion presses or the eagles on Columbians, which hark back to an era when aesthetics were considered important: something the 20th century forgot when it went all functional and pragmatic. Ornate machines made the makers of them happy and having an attractive workplace actually increases productivity (as was demonstrated 20 years ago when brightly coloured screen printing machines came into the market). There is an economic value for aesthetics, even in an industrial setting, if you know how to measure it.

Benjamin Thorn, curator, Armidale Museum of Print 


 

Though I will remember earlier pieces of the offset process – inks, papers, presses, colour separations and plates – I don’t miss them. These gave me the building blocks to keep up to date with developing technologies. It’s the people in this fine industry of ours that stand out. People of great skill and integrity. Work and business colleagues, both past and present. Contributors, who have chosen to “give something back” to a profession that has been good to them. I think of companies that encouraged a family atmosphere. I regret the economic pressures that force senior management to neglect team building and staff welfare.

 

Warwick Roden, co-owner, Rodenprint


 

 

I remember the late ’40s when I joined my father in his small factory in an old building in Perth. The wall used to shake from the hand-fed letterpress cylinder. I could have gone to the Uni of WA with the leaving certificate I obtained, but my father expected me to work for him and I’ve never looked back. I’ve enjoyed every minute of my 62 years in the printing industry. During my first year, I swept the floors, melted the linotype slugs in a pot to make new ingots to feed the machine and delivered small parcels to clients in the city on a bike. We enjoyed picnics for the trade every year, but now with digital being ‘flavour of the month’, there are a host of newcomers wanting part of the action.

Richard Pilpel, managing director, Pilpel Print

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