Ferrymead Printing Society Preserving the passion for print

For around 100 years, there were many attempts to produce a machine that would automate the process of setting type. After many, many failed attempts, a young German immigrant, Ottar Mergenthaler adopted a totally different approach based on his apprenticeship as a watchmaker, rather than trying to adapt an automated system to conventional presses. The result was the Linotype released in 1886, which revolutionized printing and the production of books and newspapers. We have a Linotype from the Christchurch Star and a competitor of the Linotype called an Intertype from Whitcombe and Tombs.