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Tag Archives: letterpress fun
Cloudy Collection Prints Vol. I Ed. 3 Letterpressed by Boxcar Press
Dubbed The Scarlet Lettering, the third edition of the Cloudy Collection was amazingly cool to print. Appropriately enough, this series of illustrations was printed in a bright red ink and blind deboss with a hit of transparent white for a bold and graphic effect. For more information about the Cloudy Collection check out our interview with Cloudy Collection mastermind Dave Huyck. All of the prints in the Cloudy Collection series are available for sale on the Cloudy Collection website.
Valentine’s Day at Boxcar Press
The Boxcar Toddler visited our letterpress headquarters on Valentine’s Day, decked out in a very realistic USPS postman outfit. He didn’t have much time to chat as he needed to pass out over 50 Valentines throughout the old artist warehouse that we call home. Though Valentine’s Day is perhaps a little less romantic with two kids, it certainly is a lot cuter. (Who needs flowers when you have a toddler anyway?!) And okay, okay, we’ll admit the little Valentines weren’t letterpressed this year, but at least they were eco!
Emerging photographer captures letterpress printing at Boxcar Press
The shop at Boxcar Press was surprised by the appearance of emerging photographer Jasper Kyle when he unexpectedly chased after his father (who needed to visit our Shipping & Receiving area). Once among the busy letterpress presses, he turned to his Fisher Price R7315 which he had previously been using to photograph the hallway ceiling. He first turned his attention to our Heidelberg KSBA, which was in the middle of a 3 color run of 6,000 cards. Bob frames the composition as he measures his press sheet for register.
Jasper Photographs the KSBA
Then he noticed Carrie pulling some prints on the Vandercook. This setting, as the Vandercook prepares to pull a print, resulted in a dynamic, powerful photograph through the lens of a three year old (below).
Jasper photographs the Vandercook Universal 1
Vandercook photo by Jasper
Before heading out the door, Jasper specifically requested to photograph a “dirty stinky press,” one “with oil on top.” He showed us what he was talking about: a Heidelberg Windmill. After noticing how dirty each one was, he settled on Bill’s press as the dirtiest—inspiration for another bold composition.
Windmill as seen by Jasper
Reviewing the photo session.
We were honored to be the focus of Jasper Kyle’s recent photo shoot and we hope that you enjoy the artistry of his work. Jasper is available for wedding photography, event photography, printing press photography, ceiling photography, blurry carpet photography, and calligraphy. Please contact Boxcar Press for more information.
XO Greeting Cards for CardsInk
Printed for CardsInk, this cool XO greeting card is our idea of a sweet Valentine’s Day card. We’re with CardsInk on this one – while we don’t exactly know when, how or why XOXO came to mean hugs and kisses, we’re digging this quirky illustration.
Letterpress Save the Dates for The Pink Orange
We printed these cool letterpress save the dates for Rebecca Ashby of The Pink Orange for a client of hers seeking a design with a distinct beachy feel, but a unique edge. We printed these with a letterpress flood in yellow and they are paired with a sweet 2-color letterpress #10 business envelope with a string and button closure. You can read more about the design on Rebecca’s blog.
Letterpress Holiday Cards for The London Hotels
We recently printed these letterpress holiday cards, designed by Korn Design, for The London Hotels. They feature a very cool bulldog all dressed up in his winter finery for the holiday season, printed in 2-color gray and brown letterpress.
Toddler calligraphy available for gala events
The Boxcar Press toddler is available for calligraphy services! He has been in training for about six months now and will work in trade for train set accessories, pink socks, or mac & cheese. Turnaround varies from immediate to about 200 days, depending on his mood.
Happy Halloween from Boxcar Press!
Halloween became so much more fun once we started having kids who wear cute costumes…after much debate (UPS Man? Mailman? UPS Man? Mailman?), the Boxcar Toddler decided to be a U.S. Mailman this year. He delivered hand drawn letters to lucky people all over the building. (and yes, there is, in existence, a very cute Boxcar Baby #2, who is dressed up as the letter “J” and even wore a Halloween bib….but we forgot to take a photo of her! Typical second child, right?!?!) 
Letterpress films with the in-laws
Debbie and I, the co-owners of Boxcar Press, found ourselves for a week in Chicagoland visiting her parents last week. While the kids ran amuck upstairs, Debbie’s father and I combed through the basement looking for films on printing. Larry Urbanski, as it happens, owns the largest film archive in the Midwest, and his basement is filled wall-to-wall (and floor-to-ceiling) with stacks of printing films. “Looking for films” involves skirting on tip-toes through stacks of precariously stacked film cases with flashlight in hand, hoping to find a gem.
Well, despite hours combing through a small portion of the basement, I didn’t find anything related to printing. Freight trains? Yes. 1898 footage of NYC subway construction? Yes. 1950’s dating advice? Yes. Nothing on printing in all my searching. It was quite fun and I hope that someday Larry and I can visit his 5,000 square foot warehouse of film in downtown Chicago to spend a few days combing there.
But thankfully Larry had two already pulled aside from the archive when we arrived. Larry took the time to help transfer the one below from 16mm film to a disk, then I got this in format to share with you. This film is about Ginn and Company, a large textbook publisher. The first 9 minutes are a little slow, but you can skip ahead to watch the printing and bookbinding of a textbook on 1925 equipment. I found the machinery and craftsmen & craftswomen very interesting to watch. Grab some popcorn and enjoy!
Ginn and Company (Athenaeum Press), 1925 from Harold Kyle on Vimeo.
Also, he had pulled another film called Newspaper Story, from 1950. This movie shows a lot of interesting footage from the Rockford, Illinois newspaper at the time. The parts that weren’t about printing were even worth watching. Here’s the video courtesy of archive.org:
Here’s hoping that the Moviecraft archive can continue to produce printing films to share on future visits to the in-laws!