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Sometimes objects from the past can remind us of processes that we take for granted. Before the days of word processing, or even photocopiers, printing was a very ‘hands-on’ business. Small letterpress printshops provided a service if you needed multiple copies of something, but what if you needed a one-off item on the spot? This month’s object could have been the answer, as curator Henrietta shares.
The Taylor family ran a grocery shop in West Bromwich Street, Walsall, from the 1930s onwards. When they needed a notice to highlight a special offer or new product, they used this printing kit.
The kit contains rubber stamps, covering the alphabet and a range of symbols and phrases that a shop might need, from ‘Special Value’ to ‘Finest Quality’. The kit, along with ink pads and another set of rubber alphabet stamps, remained in the family until the Taylors’ granddaughter donated them to Winterbourne.
The kit has been heavily used, and one or two blocks are missing. However, it would still be perfectly usable today. This kit was built to last.
