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 The card on the right was printed over 137
years ago on a printing press just like the one in the
photo below - which was patented almost 140 years ago. The Daughaday Model Press was made in or near Philadelphia, PA for about 20 years - from 1874-1895. (update) The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876 and Mr. Daughaday made sure that his Model Printing Press was in there - as well it should be. Shortly after the Exposition, the Model Press was licensed for production and sale in the U.K. Beginning in 1877, the Model Press was being sold in England under another name... Squintani. According to Glover Snow, the man who went to work for William Kelsey and eventually lead the Kelsey Company from 1925 until Gene Mosher took over in 1958, it was seeing the Model Press as a boy which piqued his interest in letterpress printing and the equipment used to print. Glover Snow also reported that Bill Kelsey improved his Excelsior Press with the strong "knee-action" impression motion after having seen its success on the Model Press.  update: 2/7/2018: Just
found this old advertisement in a 1936 Popular Mechanics magazine.
Model Press Company apparently was advertising and selling presses in
York, Pennsylvania in 1936... by this time, Daughaday was not involved
in the business, The one in the photos below, and now on loan to The Excelsior Press by the New Jersey Museum of Agriculture, is about 120 years old. It has "lost its home" due to the actions of New Jersey's governor Christie, who felt that $90,000 a year to maintain a museum housing New Jersey's Agricultural History was too much to spend. He cut funding; Rutgers is taking over the building and the collection is being dispersed.  We'll be cleaning up this press, cast a new set of rollers and cut a set of trucks, making a new set of grippers restoring this classic platen press to printing condition. [photo] Imprint on handle of the Model Press [photo] "Rescuers" of this press, Michael & Deborah Holcomb. Deborah learned to use her 5x8 Kelsey at The Excelsior Press The Little Model  chase size 2 1/2 x 3 1/2New addition to the collection! January 15, 2018.. We found this "Little Model" through an ad in Craigslist... Now it has a home... I didn't even know that this press existed! And, I could not find any reference to it on any of the pages that discuss Daughaday's presses... It is a very sturdy - *extremely* sturdy little press - especially considering its very small, business-card-sized platen... Soon it will have a new roller, be cleaned up a bit (cleaned and oiled only - not to destroy the patina and painted details)  The last job printed on this press
appears to have been an inventory card for a library. How
many years ago? We have no idea. But the hand-type form is
still firmly locked up in the chase! For further reading:
 Update 4/27/2018 ================================ A very nice larger sized Daughaday Model Press currently on display - and printing! - at the National Museum of Industrial History in Bethlehem, PA. May-October, 2018 - maintained and used by Frank Sattler, NMIH. click on photo for larger image 4/30/2018: Here's something new!  In 1902, the Robert R. Tunis Company of Philadelphia claims to be "Makers of the Model Press" They even published a book on "How to Print".. copyright, 1902...  So. "Daughaday" Model Presses were still being built in Philadelphia in 1902! I didn't know that! Meanwhile, Squintani was making these presses in England... Where had Mr. Daughaday gone? |
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