Stopped by an old bindery in Portland last week...

The place still had those huge cast iron nipping presses from the 1800s sitting in the corner, just gathering dust. Made me wonder how many hands touched those things before everything went digital... anyone else feel a little sad walking through old shops like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisak2625d ago

Oh totally, yeah no I get you. I walked into this old print shop in Seattle and yeah the machines were neat but they were also covered in like an inch of grease and looked like they could crush your hand in a second. I'll take my three dollar thrift store paperback any day over some dusty museum piece.

rose_hart25d ago

Those old presses are cool to look at but honestly people romanticize the past way too much. Those machines were dangerous as hell and the workers probably hated them. Hand binding was slow, expensive, and only rich people could afford custom books. Digital printing lets anyone publish their zine or print a family photo album for cheap. I'd rather have a $20 paperback I can throw in my bag than some fancy leatherbound thing I'm scared to touch.