While looking through some of the memorabilia grandad gave me after he retired, I stumbled across what looks like a Frisco ink pad stamp. Anyone have an idea what these were used for? Paul Moore
By this, do you mean made for the craft of "stamping?" If so, they did a nice job on the coonskin. Some of the product from a stamping session can be amazing and elaborate.
It appears to be a stamp that you would use with an ink stamp pad to create an image (the reverse of what is on the stamper) on a piece of paper. What I wonder is why would Frisco need to stamp a piece of paper with the image of a 2-6-0 steam locomotive? The image is about 1" X 4.375"--pretty large to stamp on a sheet of paper. The image is pretty elaborate and would not be cheap to do the engraving / etching to create it. It's what curious as to what the railroad would have used this for.
That may be it. This thing could be clamped in a letter press and run much faster than just hand stamping. Good idea!!!
The item in the photos is a plate block, used along with other plate blocks for printing. The item would be placed in a printing frame possibly along with individual letters creating words and sentences, ultimately creating a printed page. I have a number of Frisco plate block items including one that was used for printing decals. It was removed from the block that it had been mounted on. Items from my collection.
Keith, that's what I was referring to when I said a letterpress. A letterpress is a slow, early type of printing press where you could clamp dies or blocks into it. The plates are hit with ink, then the blocks stamp the sheet of paper. It's motorized and automated, but extremely slow compared to a modern press. Stupid me...the printing industry was what I was in for the later portion of my working career. But by the time I was in printing (1990's), computers were starting to take over, much of the industry was computerized and automated, and the only things letterpresses were used for were foil stamping, die cutting and sequential numbering. Block printing like the pictured blocks hasn't been used in 60 years or so. But I still should have realized what they were. Oh well...There are two things you lose when you get old. The first is your memory and I forget the second one... Here's a video that shows how a letterpress in operation that I found doing a browser search. It's surprising that it let me view it since I'm not on facebook. https://www.facebook.com/barbourpri...terpress-at-barbour-printing/307753353233027/ Thanks to you and Karl for helping me realize what I should have figured out on my own!!!!!!!!!!
During high school, I was the flunkie at a printing company…. Ran deliveries, packaged our product, swept the floors, etc. We performed silk screen and lithography work. Our biggest clients were Vendo, Rival, and GE. If you ever bought a soda from a vending machine, used a Rival Crockpot, or had a GE stereo, it probably had our work. We had two old letter presses, which as you described, were converted to serve as die presses. They finally taught me how to set-up the machines and run them. Really learned a lot while working that job.