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Downtown in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Linotype Model 31

Line-Casting Machine

 
 
Linotype Model 31 Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Tom Fuchs, April 3, 2010
1. Linotype Model 31 Marker
Inscription. The Linotype was introduced in Baltimore in 1883 by Ottmar Mergenthaler, a German-born inventor. By replacing hand-set type with machine-set type, the speed of composition was vastly increased by this important advance in printing.

This machine saw more than a half century’s service molding lines of type from molten metal in the Washington Post’s composing room. It is representative of the very heart of the “hot type” newspaper production process which was used at the Post from 1888 to 1980.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: CommunicationsIndustry & CommerceLabor Unions. A significant historical year for this entry is 1883.
 
Location. 38° 54.267′ N, 77° 2.067′ W. Marker is in Northwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia. It is in Downtown. Marker is on 15th Street Northwest north of L Street Northwest, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington DC 20005, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Saint Augustine Catholic Church (within shouting distance of this marker); Katharine Graham (within shouting distance of this marker); Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church
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(about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Metropolitan AME Church (about 500 feet away); Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church (about 500 feet away); William Howard Taft (about 600 feet away); Elizabeth Keckley (about 700 feet away); Statler Hotel (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Northwest Washington.
 
Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. This link is to a marker for a the Ottmar Mergenthaler house in Baltimore.
 
Also see . . .
1. James O. Clephane, the Father of the Linotype Machine. Wikipedia entry. “ ‘I want to bridge the gap between the typewriter and the printed page’ he declared in 1872, and began to pursue the invention of a machine for typesetting. Along with Charles T. Moore, he devised a machine which cast type from papier-mâché matrices indented by mechanically assembled characters, but it had numerous defects which they were unable to rectify. Moore approached August Hahl
Linotype Model 31 and Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 3, 2010
2. Linotype Model 31 and Marker
Brass plaque is mounted on the wooden platform.
in 1876, with whom Ottmar Mergenthaler was working at the time. Mergenthaler immediately suggested casting the type from a metal matrix instead, and set to work on a typesetting machine, spending a year redesigning it until in the summer of 1877 he felt he had a working prototype.

“It produced print by lithography, which was problematic. Clephane made the suggestion of using stereography instead, and Mergenthaler began to research this approach, for which Clephane provided financial backing. By 1879, it was still in development. Mergenthaler designed a line casting machine, but then tore up the plans in frustration. Clephane encouraged him to continue; he remained confident in the value of the invention despite all the scepticism and financial embarrassments that accompanied it.

“By 1883, the machine was perfected and patented in 1884. Meanwhile Clephane had formed the National Typographic Company for manufacturing it, with a capitalization of $1 million and named Mergenthaler as manager of its Baltimore factory. The company became the Mergenthaler Printing Company in 1885. It had its first ‘commercial demonstration’ on July 3, 1886, before Whitelaw Reid of the New York Tribune, who exclaimed ‘Ottmar, you’ve done it again! A line o’ type!’ from which
Linotype Model 31 On Display image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 3, 2010
3. Linotype Model 31 On Display
it got its name: the Linotype machine.” (Submitted on April 11, 2010, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.) 

2. Eldon Meeks runs a Linotype machine. “October 16, 2007 — Eldon Meeks, 82, runs a Model 8 Linotype machine, vintage World War II, for the Wapsipinicon Almanac at Route Three Press in rural Anamosa, Iowa, in October 2007. Eldon was born deaf, and is also mute. Video shot by The Gazette’s Dave Rasdal.”

“This is a video of my deaf father at the linotype machine. Many years ago he used to work for the local Anamosa, Iowa newspaper. His former boss used to say Eldon would always know in advance when one of the machines was going to break down. With being deaf, he could feel the change in the vibration that the machines were producing.” (Submitted on April 11, 2010, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.) 

3. A Place of Their Own. 1989 book by John Vickrey Van Cleve and Barry A. Crouch on Amazon.com. “As satisfying as it may be, however, the story of deaf people’s success in the printing trade is a cautionary tale as well. The nature of printing changed rapidly in the second half of the twentieth century, altering its status and reducing its importance
Linotype Model and Serial Number Plate image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 3, 2010
4. Linotype Model and Serial Number Plate
as lucrative urban employment for deaf men. The introduction of computers and the phasing out of the old linotype machines meant fewer workers—and workers with different skills—were needed in the printing business. Although the Washington Post, for example, and the Government Printing Office still employed deaf printers in the 1980s, their numbers were dwindling.” (Submitted on April 11, 2010, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.) This website may earn income if you use this link to make a purchase on Amazon.com. 
 
Linotype Keyboard and Copy Holder image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 3, 2010
5. Linotype Keyboard and Copy Holder
Linotype Model 31 image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 3, 2010
6. Linotype Model 31
<i>Washington Post</i> Front Pages Composed with Linotype image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 3, 2010
7. Washington Post Front Pages Composed with Linotype
Displayed behind the Linotype machine. 1962: “Kennedy Orders Blockade of Cuba as Reds Build Nuclear Bases There; U.S. Will Sink Defiant Arms Ships” 1933: “Nation Celebrates Repeal; Roosevelt Wars on Illicit Trade and Return of Saloon” 1944: “Allies Land in France, Eisenhower Announces” 1937: Hitler Seizes Full Powers In Reich; Army Backs Him; Nation Mourns Hindenburg”
<i>Washington Post</i> Front Pages Composed with Linotype image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, April 3, 2010
8. Washington Post Front Pages Composed with Linotype
Displayed behind the Linotype machine. 1963: “President Kennedy Shot Dead; Lyndon B. Johnson is Sworn In” 1963: “Mammoth Rally of 200,000 Jams Mall In Solemn, Orderly Plea for Equality” 1927: “Lindbergh Wildly Hailed at Paris for 3,800-Mile Flight in 33½ Hours; Airman Tells Own Story of Trip” 1924: “Johnson is Hero as Nationals Win Decisive Game of World Series 4–3; City in Carnival, Celebrates Victory” 1918: “Armistice Signed; Fighting Ceases; Reds Rule in Berlin;” 1941: “Phillippines Fierecely Raided; Guam Reportedly Captured. War Declaration Signed by Roosevelt” 1898: “Maine Wrecked and Burned” 1906: “On a Sun-Kissed Day in Room Abloom, the Eyes of the World Beholding, Alice Roosevelt, the President’s Fair Daughter, Becomes Mrs. Nicholas Longworth”
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 4, 2010, by Tom Fuchs of Greenbelt, Maryland. This page has been viewed 2,409 times since then and 38 times this year. Photos:   1. submitted on April 4, 2010, by Tom Fuchs of Greenbelt, Maryland.   2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on April 10, 2010, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.   8. submitted on April 11, 2010, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. • J. J. Prats was the editor who published this page.
 
Editor’s want-list for this marker. Confirmation and photo of the site where the marker was located, probably no longer present due to recent construction (demolition of Washington Post Building). • Can you help?

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Mar. 19, 2024