Job title: Prepress Manager

Describe what you do at Boxcar Press in 10 words: Technical support and output layouts for internal and external plating

My super power is: My hair

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Two more days to submit your Craziest Press Moving story ever. If you don’t have a story of your own…don’t despair. You have 48 hours to hunt down a letterpress, bring a camera, take a few deep breaths, and go wild. (Submit your story, or read the adventures of other press movers, here).

Congratulations to Carol Schwartzott of Lilliput Press — our first participant in the Boxcar Press Photopolymer Plate Recycling Program (BPPPPRP). We’re sending Carol an official Boxcar Press printing apron to say thanks. Remember, you can be like Carol and recycle your photopolymer plates too!

Thanks to Leslie @ Sea Dog Press for telling us about a great letterpress article in May/June issue of Step Inside Magazine. Mentioned in the article are Boxcar customers Sea Dog Press & Ars Brevis Press, as well as B Designs. Go letterpress!

We love plastic-backed plates as much as we love rich chocolate pudding or puddle-stomping. But up until this month, after printing a job, we had to throw the plates away in the trash. What else could you do with a stack of processed polymer? And you can guess that polymer took a long time to “disappear” from the landfills. Steel-backed plates weren’t much easier to recycle — you needed a metal recycling company to take the steel, and then you were still stuck with the polymer. We tried to console ourselves with Elvis tunes (Make the world go away. / Yeah, get it off, get it off, get it off my shoulder. / Say the things we used to say / And make the world go away) but, you know, we can’t ignore our planet like we used to. We knew there had to be a better way to dispose of printing plates, even though our polymer manufacturers told us otherwise. So we made a better way.

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Things were looking bad before Jasper showed up to help repair our Linotronic 560. About one hour after our Rochester-based (adult) service technician did his routine maintenance this morning, our imagesetter broke down for the first time in its two year stint at Boxcar Press. Coincidence? Bad timing? No matter, Jasper was still in Syracuse to help his dad and Anthony disassemble and reassemble the machine. We were back up and running before bed-time. And yes, Jasper is wearing his favorite t-shirt. If anyone is in need of imagesetter repair, Jasper’s rates are 30 blueberries/hour plus travel expenses (Cheerios).

Flurry (a new online journal about letterpress printers) needs you. In particular, Flurry needs your press moving stories. And not just that time when you hired riggers and everything went really smoothly. Post a comment telling us (in 50 words or less) what crazy things your love for letterpress has caused you to do with really heavy machinery (or, if you’re shy, email us (liftgate@boxcarpress.com). How far were you willing to go for your cast iron beauty? Madness, adrenaline, photos, reenactments, and adventure are all encouraged. The best story will win the right of first refusal for Harold Kyle’s *free* 2-ton Miehle Vertical press. This press has brand new rollers, as well as typical rust and dirt issues as you’d expect with any mid-century press. It’s guaranteed to provide you with an exciting press moving story all over again! You’ll also receive fame and a Boxcar letterpress t-shirt featuring your choice of press (Vandercook; Windmill; C&P; or Sigwalt). And we’ll feature the best stories in an upcoming article on Flurry. Post or email your best in 50 words or less by August 20.

We’ve just received the Co-op America’s Business Seal of Approval. Hooray! The businesses that are part of this organization are truly cutting-edge green, and we’re proud that our care for the environment and our eco-way of business has allowed us to be a part of this cool organization. We were impressed by the lengthy and thoughtful application process that really inspired us to become more green (for instance — we’re working on developing some kind of screening process for vendors, with the goal of working with companies that have a social & environmental consciousness too). From Co-Op America: “Green businesses operate in ways that solve, rather than cause, both environmental and social problems. These businesses adopt principles, policies, and practices that improve the quality of life for their customers, their employees, communities, and the environment.” Our thoughts exactly.